In his recently release biography From the Rez to the Runway: Forging My Path in Fashion, Ojibwe fashion journalist Christian Allaire chronicles his journey from growing up on the Nipissing First Nation Ontario reserve to moving to Toronto for schooling and his first media gigs, and finally to New York where he landed his dream job as a Vogue fashion and style writer. He shares that, as he was building his portfolio, he never considered writing about Indigenous fashion because it was a subject he didn’t think anyone cared about. But as he thought about it, an idea began to percolate: how he could create change and support his community with a Vogue feature shining the spotlight on Native designers?
During a one-month contract working as a digital producer with the magazine, Allaire pitched this feature concept to Vogue’s digital and fashion editor, who was intrigued; the style authority had never covered Indigenous fashion in a significant way. Allaire’s story—focused on six Indigenous designers using fashion to reclaim their culture—was published online in May 2018. As Allaire remembers it, the story was not just a defining career moment for him, but a groundbreaking one for those in the Indigenous fashion community, who finally saw themselves represented.
Stories like this, of cultural awareness and reclamation, are what lie at the heart of a now flourishing Indigenous fashion and arts community. As award-winning artist and designer Sage Paul shares, it has only been in the last 10 years that the fashion world has wholly embraced and celebrated Indigenous creators.
“I grew up in Toronto and was always surrounded by so much fashion, but never saw anything that I experienced in my own community—there were very few places I could see myself,” explains Paul, an urban Denesuliné tskwe and a member of English River First Nation. “As interest in Indigenous fashion began to grow, people quickly became very interested in the work of the community—work we had been creating in our own spaces for generations.”
Paul, a founding collective member, executive and artistic director of the biennial Indigenous Fashion Arts festival, reports that the rise of events like Indigenous Fashion Arts (IFA) have been breakthrough moments for the Indigenous fashion community, giving artists their place on the international scene. “Indigenous fashion has always been there, but we were never allowed to practice and showcase our culture,” she says. “The world is now understanding our communities. The craftsmanship. The materials. The value of work. A lot of my focus has been on changing the perception and providing education so people can see what we are doing and fully appreciate our perspective.”
With understanding comes growth, and Paul says she’s inspired daily by how the Indigenous fashion community is evolving. She points to recently introduced courses at the Banff Centre’s Indigenous Arts program—like Indigenous Haute Couture – Creations & Embellishments, led by acclaimed First Nation designer D’Arcy Moses, and an Indigenous Fashion Runway Residency—as incredible opportunities for a rising generation of style stars.
For Gitxsan Nation designer and textile artist Yolonda Skelton, nurturing newcomers to the Indigenous fashion scene is a passion. Vancouver-based Skelton, renowned for her North Coast style, began her fashion career in 2001 designing traditional regalia, before moving into creating wearable, traditional art with a modern flair. The first time she showed her creations on a runway was in 2017 at Vancouver Indigenous Fashion Week (VIFW) an event she is now deeply invested in not just as a participating designer but as a mentor and Wisdom Circle member. She’s proud of how the fashion community has evolved from just a handful of iconic Indigenous designers like Himikalas Pam Baker, Debra Sparrow, Dorothy Grant and Lloyd Henri Kiva New, who paved the way for future generations.
“These people inspired me and many others with their elegant style, creativity and grit in a world that was fairly closed to Indigenous designers,” she says. “I now find myself in the role of mentoring and being a wisdom keeper for youth. To move forward in fashion, we need to witness that each incredible designer comes with a unique point of view and voice for their people and ancestors. A voice that resonates with our children and youth, bringing pride and hope to their individual nations and those nations and communities around them.
“You can see our fashions are now being seen on numerous red carpets, runways, films and television series like Bones of Crows and North of North, which are being viewed by millions of people worldwide,” she adds. “Due to this shift, people are seeing our unique diversity and are tearing down the constructs of Pan-Indianism.”
According to Toronto-based Warren Steven Scott, it’s events like VIFW and IFA that have enabled many Indigenous artists like himself to have a creative platform and a voice, and to successfully launch a fashion career. When the Nlaka’pamux Nation designer graduated from university more than a decade ago he, like most students, found himself unsure of what his next move would be.
“At that time in Toronto there were many different fashion weeks, which I had slightly thought of being a part of, but I didn’t feel drawn to any of them,” Scott reflects. “Nothing felt like the right fit, or a place I could put in effort and have space to explore and present my first collection. This was in 2017 and also around the time the city’s first IFA festival was announced, to which I immediately applied. I was one of 21 designers selected for the inaugural event and created my first independent fashion collection. This was the first time I was able to present my own ideas, which included my acrylic earrings.”
It was, in fact, Scott’s earrings—a beautiful fusion of contemporary design and traditional Coast Salish shapes, like his signature oviods—that became the breakout star of his show and the foundation of his now-buzzy fashion brand. These coveted statement accessories have allowed him to share the story of his culture with a global audience of superfans.
Red River Métis and Métis Nation of Ontario artist and designer Jason Baerg is the founder of fashion label Ayimach Horizons, which recently debuted its “amachiwayhk Collection” at Native Fashion Week (NFW) in Santa Fe. Baerg describes the collection as drawing inspiration from the element of air, the colour white and the power of the North. “Fabrics like silk, cotton, leather and horsehair support the intention of naturally elevating our people through fashion,” they explain. “The word ‘amachiwayhk’ is the Michif word for ascend.”
Speaking to Baerg —who is also an associate profession in Indigenous practices, contemporary painting and media art at Toronto’s OCAD University—the day after presenting at NFW, their energy is electric. They see acceptance and excitement in the fashion industry around the work of Indigenous designers—after so many years of inertia.
“It is such a privilege to be a part of the talent, performance and visions in the Indigenous fashion community, and seeing the acceleration of new beauty on the runways,” Baerg says. “We are telling stories of our cultures that echo from the land. People are hearing them and feeling them.” —Alison McGill
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