Most of us remember the moments we doubted ourselves more clearly than the ones we got right. The role we talked ourselves out of, the idea we kept to ourselves in the meeting, the door we watched someone else walk through. Confidence rarely disappears all at once. It goes in small, private decisions, and it often returns when another woman says aloud what we thought only we felt.
Tonight at 7pm, Melbourne gets a room built for that.
NGV International opens its doors to the first Australian edition of Kerastase Power Talks, with British model, actress and mental health advocate Adwoa Aboah in an exclusive conversation. It is also the first time Kerastase has partnered with a cultural institution in this market to present the series. The gallery suits the occasion. It is a place where people have always come to look closely at the work of others, and tonight they will listen closely to a woman’s story.
The Confidence Gap
Kerastase launched Power Talks in 2023 to address the confidence gap between women and men at career-defining moments: the promotion, the pivot, the decision to back yourself when no one has asked you to. The platform sits at the meeting point of empowerment, mentorship and education, and it rests on a simple belief. When one woman shares what she has lived through, another recognises what she is capable of.
The conversation has already travelled to Paris, Mumbai, Los Angeles and Warsaw, with speakers including Demi Moore, Emily Ratajkowski and Amelia Dimoldenberg. Tonight Melbourne joins them.
A Life Lived in Front of the Lens, and Beyond It
Adwoa Aboah has spent her career in rooms most people only see in photographs. She has appeared on the covers of and in editorials for Vogue, W, i-D, Dazed and ELLE, and has fronted campaigns for Dior, Burberry, Calvin Klein, Swarovski and Rimowa. Time magazine put her on its cover as a Next Generation Leader. She made her acting debut in Netflix’s Top Boy and has since taken roles including Satisfaction (2025), which premiered at the 2025 SXSW Film Festival.
The work she is best known for, though, happens away from the camera. In 2015 she founded Gurls Talk, a nonprofit that offers girls and young women early, accessible mental health support through evidence-based programs, trusted resources and community. The idea is to reach a young woman before a hard moment becomes a harder one, and to let her know she has people around her. That work has made Aboah one of the leading global voices on young women’s mental health.
Samuel Choong, Kerastase Brand Director AUNZ, describes her as an embodiment of the brand’s legacy of empowerment and the ideal headliner for the inaugural event. “Through her global platform and Gurls Talk, she champions young women’s mental health, reinforcing Kerastase’s commitment to elevating diverse female voices.”
In Her Words
Aboah is visiting Melbourne and the NGV for the first time, and she has said she can’t wait. Her belief is plain and generous. “I truly believe that when we share our own stories and experiences it builds the foundation for a strong community, where we can empower ourselves and each other. I look forward to sharing my own career journey and creative practice, the successes, challenges and career-defining moments, and how we can help each other build confidence on our own journeys, a topic close to my heart.”
Tonight she will talk about her career journey and creative practice, the successes and challenges, and the moments that defined her. Her aim is for the audience to help each other build confidence on their own journeys, a topic she calls close to her heart.
That is a rare thing to hear from someone with her eesumr. She is not presenting a polished highlight reel. She is offering the harder middle of the story, the part most of us are still living.
Care, Taken Further
Kerastase has built its reputation over more than 60 years on luxury professional haircare. Since 1964, its research has challenged convention. At a time when hair routine was purely about hygiene, the house invented care for hair. Power Talks carries that same belief past the salon chair: that being looked after changes how a person moves through the world.
The Australian series will run biannually with the NGV, inviting leading female voices from art, design and culture to share the experiences and contemporary issues shaping their work. Tonight is the first chapter.
The Details
Event: NGV x Kerastase Power Talks: Adwoa Aboah
Venue: NGV International, St Kilda Road, Melbourne
Time: 7.00pm to 10.00pm, Thursday 1 October 2026
Entry: Free, bookings essential
Tickets and information: ngv.vic.gov.au
