MELBOURNE will be donning a special warm-up top in 2022, designed by Aboriginal artist, Andrew Taylor.

As seen in the Demons’ two practice matches, the red and blue tees will be worn prior to each home match this season in support of Indigenous issues.

“The reason I suggested that we look at wearing Indigenous tops in the warm-up was because I wanted to show that we support Indigenous issues and Indigenous Australia all year-round,” the club’s Indigenous Project Officer, Matthew Whelan, told Melbourne Media.

“We want to be having these conversations 24/7 and we’ll continue to educate our players and staff about the importance of Indigenous Australia.”

Taylor, the man who designed the top, has been developing his art craft for 15 years, and owns a company called ‘Brothaboy’, which employs Aboriginal School Based Trainees in the fields of graphic design, business, retail and multimedia.

His work with the Melbourne Football Club isn’t his first involvement with the AFL, but as a Melbourne supporter, it’s one of his proudest.

And the design itself is unique in embracing the team’s history.

“We went through a list of all your current and past players,” Taylor told Melbourne Media.

“What we tried to do was bring the many Nations together to form one, in the spirit of the game.

“Obviously you guys have had quite a number of players come through the system over the many years, so I tried to capture as many of the different language groups, tribal groups and First Nations players, to come together for the Melbourne Footy Club.

“You’ll see different totems, different message sticks, different forms of tools that we use for the different totems.

“Basically, I tried to bring them all together to represent one club through the different players over the many years.”