MECCA has announced its newest campaign, Born Creative, designed to unlock creativity and help nurture it in the next generation.
The campaign, which was born from research conducted for MECCA by Ipsos, shows creativity in women halves from childhood to adulthood, with two-thirds of Australian women feeling creative most or all of the time as children compared with one third now*.
The research also found the loss of creative confidence begins when we are young, with 40% of women pointing specifically to the high-school years of 12 to 17*.
Image: MECCA chief purpose officer, Lisa Keenan.
"Women are born with an incredible capacity to imagine, experiment and create, but our research shows between ages 12 and 24, too many of us lose confidence in it as we become more self-conscious, fearful of judgement and critical of ourselves*," said MECCA chief purpose officer, Lisa Keenan.
"And we know this loss comes at a significant time, with 73% of women aged between 16-24 saying creativity is important to their sense of self."
"Through Born Creative, we want to help protect creative confidence early, giving young people across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand more opportunities to experiment and express this skill in safe and supportive environments."
Through M-POWER, MECCA is contributing $250,000 to Australian education organisation, The Song Room to help 12,000 primary school-aged children access impactful arts learning programs.
Additionally, the company is funding free creative workshops for over 500 girls and gender-diverse teenagers across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand with preventative mental health charity, The Flourish Journey.
"Our partnership with MECCA M-POWER will enable us to provide thousands of kids across the country – many of them navigating disadvantage – with tailored creative arts programs they might not otherwise experience," said The Song Room chief executive officer, Alice Gerlach.
"For us, it's about more than giving these children a chance to shine in the arts. It's about helping them be heard, share how they're feeling and build real connection and confidence at school."
Image: The Song Room
As part of the campaign, MECCA is also hosting three workshops led by some of Australia’s leading and emerging artists – fashion designer, Poppy Lissiman, Sydney musician, Tiffi and makeup artist and stylist, Soraya Boularas.
With each creative bringing their own distinctive flair, the workshops will create space for people to reconnect with their creativity through hands-on making, experimentation and self-expression.
Held at MECCAVERSITY in MECCA Bourke Street, the workshops include:
- Paint your makeup case with Poppy Lissiman on October 8th
- Write your own lyrics with singer-songwriter Tiffi on October 15th
- Master a bold eye with Soraya Boularas on October 22nd
Workshop tickets are on sale now for $20, which is fully redeemable in-store. For more information or to purchase, click here.
And finally, as part of Born Creative, MECCA is launching Chapter Two of the MECCA Archive, an online collection of beauty’s defining cultural moments.
This chapter features exciting new contributions from London-based art historian and author, Katy Hessel, and archivist and managing director of Your Creative, Lauren Crystal, plus more you can find here.
*MECCA commissioned research, conducted by Ipsos, March 2026. Base: n=2,000 nationally representative Australian women aged 16+, Australia
Image credit: Supplied/MECCA
