Indigenous fashion week in Santa Fe, New Mexico, explores heritage in silk and hides

SANTA FE N M AP Fashion designers from across North America are bringing together inspiration from their Indigenous heritage civilization and everyday lives to three days of runway modeling that started Friday in a leading creative hub and marketplace for Indigenous art A fashion show affiliated with the century-old Santa Fe Indian Domain is collaborating this year with a counterpart from Vancouver Canada in a spirit of Indigenous solidarity and artistic freedom A second independent runway show at a rail yard district in the city has nearly doubled the bustle of models makeup and final fittings Elements of Friday s collections from six Native designers ran the gamut from silk parasols to a quilted hoodie knee-high fur boots and suede leather earrings that dangled to the waste Models on the Santa Fe catwalks include professionals dancers and Indigenous celebrities from TV and the political sphere Clothing and accessories rely on materials ranging from of wool transaction cloth to animal hides featuring traditional beadwork ribbons and jewelry with specific contemporary twists that include digitally rendered designs and urban Native American streetwear from Phoenix Native fashion it s telling a story about our understanding of who we are individually and then within our communities reported Taos Pueblo fashion designer Patricia Michaels of Project Runway reality TV fame You re getting designers from North America that are here to express a lot of what inspires them from their own heritage and beliefs Santa Fe style The stand-alone spring fashion week for Indigenous design is a new outgrowth of haute couture at the summer Santa Fe Indian Domain where teeming crowds flock to outdoor displays by individual sculptors potters jewelers and painters Designer Sage Mountainflower remembers playing in the streets at Indian Arena as a child in the s while her artist parents sold paintings and beadwork She forged a different career in environmental administration but the world of high fashion called to her as she sewed tribal regalia for her children at home and eventually brought international recognition At age Mountainflower on Friday presented her Taandi collection the Tewa word for Spring grounded in satin and chiffon fabric that includes embroidery patterns that invoke her personal and family heritage at the Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo in the Upper Rio Grande Valley I pay attention to trends but a lot of it s just what I like reported Mountainflower who also traces her heritage to Taos Pueblo and the Navajo Nation This year it s authentically just looking at springtime and how it s evolving It s going to be a colorful collection More than designers are presenting at the invitation of the Southwestern Association for Indian Arts Fashion plays a prominent part in Santa Fe s renowned arts ecosystem with Native American vendors each day selling jewelry in the central plaza while the Institute for American Indian Arts delivers fashion-related college degrees in May This week a gala at the New Mexico governor s mansion welcomed fashion designers to town along with social mixers at local galleries and bookstores and plans for pop-up fashion stores to sell clothes fresh off the fashion runway International vision A full-scale collaboration with Vancouver Indigenous Fashion Week is bringing a northern First Nations flair to the gathering this year with countless designers overcoming into the U S from Canada Secw pemc artist and fashion designer Randi Nelson traveled to Santa Fe from the city of Whitehorse in the Canadian Yukon to present collections forged from fur and traditionally cured hides she uses primarily elk and caribou The leather is tanned by hand without chemicals using inherited techniques and tools We re all so different commented Nelson a member of the Bonaparte St uxwt ws First Nation who started her career in jewelry assembled from quills shells and beads There s not one pan-Indigenous theme or pan-Indigenous look We re all taking from our individual nations our individual teachings the things from our family but then also recreating them in a new and modern way April Allen an Inuk designer from the Nunatsiavut population on the Labrador coast of Canada presented a mesh dress of blue water droplets Her work delves into themes of nature and social advocacy for access to clean drinking water Vocal music accompanied the collection layers of wordless primal sound from musician and runway model Beatrice Deer who is Inuit and Mohawk Urban Indian couture Phoenix-based jeweler and designer Jeremy Donavan Arviso noted the runway shows in Santa Fe are attempting to break out of the strictly Southwest fashion mold and become a global venue for Native design and collaboration A panel discussion Thursday dwelled on the threat of new tariffs and prices for fashion supplies and tensions between disposable fast fashion and Indigenous ideals Arviso is bringing a street-smart aesthetic to two shows at the Southwestern Association for Indian Arts runway and a warehouse venue organized by Amber-Dawn Bear Robe from the Siksika Nation My work is definitely contemporary I don t choose a whole lot of ceremonial or ancestral practices in my work declared Arviso who is Din Hopi Akimel O odham and Tohono O odham and grew up in Phoenix I didn t grow up like that I grew up on the streets Arviso explained his approach to fashion resembles music sampling by early rap musicians as he draws on themes from major fashion brands and elements of his own tribal cultures He invited Toronto-based ballet dancer Madison Noon for a beautiful and biting performance to introduce his collection titled Vision Quest Santa Fe runway models will include former U S Interior Secretary Deb Haaland of Laguna Pueblo adorned with clothing from Michaels and jewelry by Zuni Pueblo silversmith Veronica Poblano Source