Recognised for their creative fusion of First Nations culture and sustainable men's swimwear, Gali Swimwear has gained the attention of media, buyers and consumers once again at Australian Fashion Week.

Thanks to the brands recent presentation at the Indigenous Fashion Projects First Nations runway, Gali is back on the fashion radar more than ever before.

Taking to the catwalk at last week's David Jones Indigenous Fashion Projects runway, the Aboriginal-founded brand proved that fashion – specifically swimwear – can be as sustainable and trendy as it is culturally relevant.

With founder David Leslie creating the brand with the aim of furthering conversations surrounding greater representation for Indigenous individuals, last week's runway was a perfect example of how Leslie's designs aim to unite and connect people all whilst acting as a catalyst for change.

"Our runways and collections are storytelling experiences, through fashion. It's our mission to help share First Nations stories with the world and to let others experience the rich culture and create talents of First Nations people," Leslie told Style Up.

"It's been a big year so far. In March we showcased a new collection at Melbourne Fashion Festival, in April we launched a men's underwear collection with iconic Australian brand TEAMM8."

Participating as one of the selected designers to feature in the David Jones Indigenous Fashion Projects IFP Pathways Program runway, this year Leslie returned to the runway with a collection that reflected the program's beneficial guidance and support.

"We've felt very lucky to be part of the IFP pathways program - it's not every day that a brand gets the opportunity to walk the Australian Fashion Week runway! Their creative team has been instrumental in getting us to be able to showcase at events like this," he said.

"For Gali, the experience has opened doors that we wouldn't have had access to, and allowed us to form long-lasting relationships with brands like David Jones. All our learnings from participating in runways gave us the confidence to showcase at overseas events like Miami Swim and Resort Week.

"This is our last year as part of the Indigenous Fashion Projects pathways program. I'm really looking forward to popping open a bottle of champagne to celebrate with the other designers, the IFP and David Jones teams, and everyone else who worked with us for the last 2 years throughout the program. The connections we've made through the program are what I'll really take away from the experience.

"I'm really honoured and impressed with the talent of the other IFP designers. Gali is only a young brand, so this experience has allowed me to learn from others in the program and think about the industry a little differently."

Opting to create and design each and every collection with a core focus and link to the brand's First Nations representation, the Gali collection shown at AFW was again no different.

"We always try to make sure our collections and runways connect to one of our core values. This year it's country," Leslie said.

"For this collection, we collaborated with Barkinji and Malangapa artist Jasmine Miikika Craciun. We had previously collaborated with Jasmine for our Para-Kiira Baaka collection - so we knew her designs would feel very GALI-esk. Jasmine developed these beautiful and intriguing prints by taking photographs of Country, which we've then edited to play with colour and dimensions - turning them into something new.

"This collection speaks to the deep respect our communities hold for Country, and for the importance of sustainability in preserving what we have for our future generations."

Striving to always bring something new and niche to the runway, for this collection Leslie ventured into photographic manipulation.

"Though we're only a year and a half old, we wanted this runway to feel different to last year's collection, while still feeling like a part of the Gali brand," Leslie said.

"This year we're trying something new and are experimenting with photographic manipulation, something we haven't shown before.

"Most people associate Indigenous art with paintings, so we really wanted to showcase a different medium of art to expand people's understanding and appreciation for what contemporary Indigenous art looks like."

For the remainder of 2024 Leslie has big plans to further his fashion line, sharing that new products and artist collaborations are both on the cards.

"This year we're focusing on prints, products and partnerships," he said.

"We have new artist collaborations that we're excited to launch, and we are working on launching new products in the upcoming months - keep an eye on our socials to find out."

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