Yolngu woman Liandra Gaykamangu, founder and creative director of Liandra Swim, came to New York City as part of New York Fashion Week to better understand the US market for her brand.
It's a decision which has led to her debut on the NYFW runway.
Coming off the back of Fashinnovation NYC's Miami Swim Week event, Gaykamangu was drawn to the New York City equivalent of the event because of the connections she made in Miami.
Some of these connections include former judge of America's Next Top Model, Nigel Barker and Vogue Mexico and Latin America's editor in chief, Karla Martinez.
This time, the event has led to Gaykamangu being offered a spot in a New York Fashion Week runway.
Gaykamangu said she was approached by an event organiser at the Fashinnovation NYC event.
"There was an opportunity to be a part of the NYFW BLK runway event," she said.
"Whilst it isn't necessarily on the official schedule it is a runway to support melanated people from around the world.
"Which is really exciting to be a part of and I'm hoping to foster the community from that, learn and connect with other designers and other people in the industry."
Gaykamangu said she hoped this would be a stepping stone for her for future opportunities in the US market.
Attendees include representatives from Sports Illustrated magazine.
"It's exciting, it was a bit of a last minute thing so I am a little bit nervous about it," she said.
"But I'm all for saying yes to opportunities and figuring out the details later."
No matter how big her brand continues to grow, for Gaykamangu sharing her wins with community will always resonate.
"I'm really big on feeding opportunities back, specifically to my community as a place to start," she said.
"I'm looking forward to investing that knowledge and opportunity and network and resources if I can but definitely everything else into the Indigenous fashion space in its entirety.
"Of course I want to see my community win and have those opportunities to be whatever they want to be especially if I can help."
Liandra Swim will be showing as part of NYFW BLK on September 10.
The New York Trip was supported by Roy Hill
