At just 18, Bundjalung man Jay Campbell is making his mark in the fashion world.

The Canberra-born model's career is off to a flying start, including a series of successful projects in 2024 to date.

Campbell has already worked with renowned Australian brands such as By Johnny and General Pants Co as well as walking the runway at Melbourne Fashion Festival, and is setting his sights higher still.

The young model is planning a move to Sydney in pursuit of more opportunities that will assist in his growth and exposure.

"2024 has been pretty good. I've been pretty consistent with work. Last week, I was down in Melbourne for the whole week working and then getting the opportunity to walk at Melbourne Fashion Festival as well…that was pretty big. From that, I've had a big influx of people wanting to meet me. I've been put on more people's radars. I think just from the start of this year, it's going to be a pretty good year, I can't really complain about much," he told StyleUp earlier this month.

"This year, I want to try and move that to Sydney, in the next couple of months, just because it's a bit more central for modelling. There's more work down there (Sydney) and more opportunities to go overseas. I want to try and base myself more around modelling and where more of the scene is so I can get a bit more of an understanding of the whole industry and build myself more and try to be an international model."

Campbell's journey into modelling began with a spur of the moment decision while out surfing.

"It's a bit of a weird one. I've had people telling me that I should model ever since I was young. I had never really thought about it until one day, I was with my mate, his wife and my cousin going for a surf and my mate's wife asked 'have you ever thought about modelling?' I said 'no, not really'. And she said, 'can I just take a photo of you and send it to my mate who's a model agent?' I said yes, not thinking anything of it," he said.

"I was just like 'the worst that can happen is that they don't reply', and then a couple of days later I got a phone call saying 'we want to have a meeting with you'. That meeting went well and then I think it was about a week later or two weeks later, I signed with them. From there it's gone up."

For Campbell - who was deep into surfing and becoming a pro surfer at the time - modelling was not a career he had envisioned himself pursuing.

"I had just got my first sponsor in surfing, and so I think I was really like surfing, surfing, surfing, I wanted to be a pro surfer," he said.

After a relatively rapid entry into modelling, Campbell soon developed an appreciation for the time and effort needed to build success in the industry.

"I do have a couple of older male model friends that talk to me about it (modelling) a lot. The one thing that I've taken from them is that if you want to get into it, it's not a fast process. It's super slow," he said.

"Now realising and looking back now, I was brought into it pretty fast. It was three weeks from when I got called to being signed, and then my first job was four weeks after that.

"I think if the opportunity is there, take it - because at the moment being an Indigenous model, internationally, is what they're (the industry) looking for."

Campbell stressed the importance of maintaining one's authenticity.

"The first thing I was taught was to be yourself, because if you're not yourself and you're trying to be this mysterious kind of person, they're (clients) not going to hire you again. They (modelling industry clients) love it when you are just yourself," he said.

Campbell said that while he hopes to see people in the fashion industry broaden their understanding of First Nations culture, he is also striving to further his own involvement and knowledge of his community.

"Last year was I pretty involved in the community, we've got a local Aboriginal group down here, called Juraki Surf. I don't know how to best exactly describe them, but they're about surfing culture, so surfing and getting Indigenous kids to surf and push the Aboriginal and Indigenous culture through surfing," he said.

"Me doing that, and connecting with some pretty big surfers and sharing culture with them has been pretty big for me, but also we've danced a lot as well around home and shared culture, through dancing and storytelling to pre-schoolers and primary school children but also, business people as well to make them understand our culture and how we do things and how it relates to real-life situations."

Campbell notes he has noticed more and more industry-goers eager to broaden their knowledge surrounding Indigenous culture.

"Everyone knows the basics, like didgeridoos, boomerangs, clap seats, dancing and stuff like that, but no one understands the stories behind it. When I get into detail like that, and they're really intrigued, then it just branches off into different conversations," he said.

"I also feel like in the industry a lot of people are open to learning, which is good. I've been on set with people, and they've been super intrigued about what I'm talking about and have said, 'oh I might go home and do some research on it'."

Campbell hopes the growing interest in First Nations cultures will drive more opportunities for Indigenous models.

"More opportunities for connecting with people and just being around like-minded people that know people (in the industry) as well. When I first started, I didn't know anyone, but now I've got different connections with everyone, meeting new people who know people, you can branch off and contact other people," he said.

"Just like Melbourne Fashion Festival, I met so many people there that really liked my look and want to work with me now…they said, 'next time you come to Sydney, next time you come to Melbourne, I want to catch up with you and I want to give your details to this person in this person because I know what they can do for you."