SANTA FE, New Mexico — “I want to be Alexander McQueen’s creative director,” rising Plains Cree designer Jontay Kahm said backstage after showing his collection at the Southwest Native American Arts Society Fashion Show on Sunday night. The antique and the avant-garde were mingled on the runway in rooster feathers, wild feathers and pony beads.
Kahm’s dream could now come true, with local designers rightfully taking their place in the fashion world, Santa Fe becoming a major hub, and the SWAIA runway becoming the premier showplace for designers celebrating heritage and innovation.
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Kahm, who will be the first Native designer to graduate from Parsons’ MFA program next year, has already dressed Lily Gladstone. Her second collection continued to emphasize her exuberant creativity and technique in building clothes around form, with flowing and beaded or fully feathered pieces, such as Americana red T-shirts and blue jeans. There were also puffy va-va-voom diva dresses and coats that paid homage to famous icons like Marilyn Monroe, while others saluted warrior garb and religious iconography from her own culture.
The designer, who was discovered by Parsons at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe and inspired by the sound suits of Iris van Herpen and Nick Cave, was one of many who attended shows and events around the city over the weekend coinciding with the 102nd annual Native American Market.
On Thursday, Dine Weaver Naiomi Glasses unveiled its third collection in conjunction with the Ralph Lauren Artist in Residence program at a nearly sold-out store event.
The 4Kinship Indigenous Futures 4Ever Fashion Show, held Saturday at the Santa Fe Train Station, featured cross-border runway shopping of clothes by the brilliant Indian-Spanish Chicano designer and weaver Josh Tafoya, Mexico City-based star Carla Fernandez and Oaxaca textile-backed American workwear brand Graziano and Gutierrez, to music by the Haisla Nation hip-hop group Snotty Nose Rez Kids.
Meanwhile, at the Sovereign art exhibition at the La Fonda Hotel, Plains artist and designer Son of Picasso showcased his punk-rock Products of My Environment streetwear, using printmaking and boro techniques to explore Indigenous pride.
The proliferation of contemporary fashion is largely due to the work of Siksika curator and art historian Amber-Dawn Bear Robe, who created the SWAIA Fashion Show in 2014, turning it into the most important event in North America, where indigenous designers debut new collections, and an Indigenous Fashion Week held each May.
“My dream is for Native designers to be part of the larger fashion community but still maintain their unique perspectives, because we don’t have homes where we have feather workers and deer tassels,” she said of the need to preserve these crafts. “And a big part of my work combines fashion and art.”
Indeed, many of the designers who walked the runway on Sunday excelled at both, including Jamie Okuma, one of the event’s biggest draws, whose clothes have sold out within minutes of being released on her website. Jamie, who was an accomplished beader and painter before launching her brand, became the first Indigenous designer to be invited to join the Council of Fashion Designers of America in 2023.
The Southern California-based Luiseno, Shoshone-Bannock, Wailaki and Okinawan designer introduced her new collection of stretchy, casual or nightly bamboo cotton pieces in neutral linen and peony floral patterns on Sunday, always one step ahead. The collection included graphic tube dress and leggings that harkened back to the 1960s, a very rock ‘n’ roll pantsuit and a hand-painted suede jacket that showcased her artistry.
The bamboo-cotton pieces will be the first she’s made under a new deal with fashion tech company Resonance, and will be available in late September. “I can create my own samples in LA, ship them to New York, and then they’re built on their platform, and everything is made in the Dominican Republic, and it’s all all-natural fabrics,” she said, which will make it easier to scale.
Lauren Good Day, a North Dakota-based Arikara, Hidatsa, Blackfeet, and Cree notebook and beadwork artist, has such a rapidly growing direct-to-consumer business with printed men’s and women’s clothing, accessories, and leather bags that she’s looking for wholesale partners. “I wanted to make my art accessible, so I started in ready-to-wear,” she said of her pieces, which are priced under $300.
On the runway, her new work highlighted the beauty of the Plains prairie with drawings of bison, butterflies, horses and morning stars, from bohemian dresses to T-shirt dresses and a gorgeous skirt and jacket set in a beadwork-inspired print. “I want to make my designs accessible to my people,” she said, explaining why she started ready-to-wear.
Her sales booth at Indian Market was packed both days, and her pieces were worn all over Santa Fe. “I get so much support from my community,” she said, noting that her runway models included artist Naiomi Glasses, Cree and Salish singer Tia Wood, actor Amber Midthunder and more from Native America. “I want our people to be represented regardless of where they come from.”
And wherever they are, Good Day was one of four Indigenous designers who traveled to Paris in January for Pharrell Williams’ inclusive Western-themed Louis Vuitton menswear show. They were invited by his main collaborator Dee Jay Twobears, who has worked with Williams for years. “He brought the community with him… singers, dancers, artists. Indigenous people had the opportunity to see high fashion and represent ourselves. It’s always important to keep the community in mind and bring them with you.”
At the ticketed fashion event held at the Santa Fe Convention Center, Canadian First Nations artist Kent Monkman discussed how he uses fashion in his practice as his alter ego Miss Chief and in his paintings about Indigenous resilience. The runway show also featured collections by Anishinaabe contemporary artist Caroline Monnet, who uses industrial building materials, and ASEP Designs, which uses computer-generated jewelry in the garments. A number of looks from Balmain’s fall collection were brought from Paris by a representative for the brand, who had connections to Santa Fe and was “blown away” by last year’s show.
There was also a pop-up shop in the lobby, and on Sunday afternoon, Tierra Alysia burst into tears there.
The Kashia Pomo designer, who attended Central Saint Martins in London, had just sold four handmade beaded silk cashmere long coats from her Vividus Runway collection. “I made over $50,000,” she said of the elegant one-pieces, which reference traditional natural elements and symbols of various tribes. She walked the runway at Indigenous Fashion Week in May, but this was her first Indian Market, and it was a successful one.
“I’m used to being the only local girl in school and sometimes you feel weird. But here, we’re like the ‘It’ girls and it’s really cool,” she said. “We’re in that moment, people are paying attention and appreciating us for the first time.”
Launch Gallery: 2024 SWAIA Indigenous Fashion Show Santa Fe, New Mexico
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