Braidwood's Saloon Design House release The Phoenix Collection in bushfire affected area

Saloon released powerful photos online last week, featuring women who had actively fought fires threatening their families' properties, as well as those who had taken care of local kids taking refuge in the smoke-ridden town.

Even with their smokey hair, heat rashes and tired eyes, they were happy to get up at 5am to model Saloon's summer collection - aptly named The Phoenix collection - in the middle of the burnt forest surrounding Braidwood.

"We've always photographed in the rainforest and the surrounding areas, so for us to photograph the forests that are now burnt, was really just carrying on what we've always done," Saloon co-founder Jane Magnus says.

"To put an even more fine point on it, we were always going to photograph part of this collection in the Monga Forest and it just so happens that that location is now burnt to a crisp. Where we've taken the photos in the burnt forest, that's only 500 metres away from my parents' house.

"The photoshoot was quite confronting to do, driving through road barriers and smoke and areas where fires had been not that far from the road."

The Phoenix Collection was due to come out at the beginning of summer, with a different name. The weekend which the original photoshoot was scheduled was just after the North Black Range fires started to threaten the town. As a consequence the photoshoot was cancelled and the collection was not released.

In the weeks that have followed, the store has only open a handful of days - sometimes only for a few hours - because of a lack of customers and also to ensure the clothing was safe from the smoke. All the while, Magnus' business partner Dena Pezzano-Pharaoh's home was one of the many under threat from fire.

It wasn't until an unexpected phone call from Brisbane's Molten Store that the business made plans to release the collection. With a "very loyal and good following" on Instagram, the jewellery store wanted to feature Saloon, as well as other businesses affected by the Australian bushfires, using #ShopWithThem, in a bid to get people supporting the small businesses online.

In a week, the Braidwood design house's Instagram following increased by 1000.

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"I had got such an incredible response from her followers sending love our way, it really did give me the courage to ask the local girls to help us do the photoshoot," Magnus says.

"I really wanted to have something to show all of these beautiful people that are showing us their support.

"It takes guts to start getting on with it, really. There's a lot of comradery between the small businesses in the region and we very much are trying to be open and get on with it for the sake of the towns on the South Coast as well.

"We have obviously not been hit nearly as badly as the South Coast where so many more people have lost their homes. But we have lost all our surrounding rainforest."

Among the women who gathered to model the Saloon dresses, was young actress Emilie Cocquerel. Residing in Sydney, the actress - who has been in Lion and Netflix's The New Legends of Monkey - was first introduced to the design house last year when her agent, who lives in the Braidwood region, took her there. She fell in love with the clothing and offered to help out with modelling when the time came.

Cocqueral was expected to come down to model for the original photoshoot before it was cancelled.

"She had been messaging me since then, not so much about the photographs at all, but just saying 'I'm so upset by all of this, what can I do? Can I fill my car with supplies and bring Hydrolite and food and masks?" Magnus says.

"When we were starting to get a lot of online media attention ... I messaged Emilie and asked if there was any chance that she could hop in the car first thing in the morning and still do that photoshoot, and so she did. She literally turned around with less than 12 hours and hopped in the car to be here for it.

"It was really quite affirming to have someone from Sydney [where it is] so detached come and experience what it's like out here and validate that experience. There are lots of people in the city that this is touching. And there are a lot of people who want to help."