Every year, the Southwestern Association for Indian Arts (SWAIA) hosts their Native Fashion Week in the beginning of May. This runway gives a moment of recognition towards different Native American designers throughout North America who use aspects of Native American fashion and culture to create looks.
Through breaking boundaries and the incorporation of Native American innovations, these designers use inspiration from their ancestry backgrounds to develop unique collections. It’s important that we acknowledge some of these designers for their work that strengthens future generations of Native American culture in the fashion industry.
In celebration of Indigenous People’s Day, here are some designers from past SWAIA Native Fashion Weeks that may be making an appearance in the coming 2025 show:
Himikalas Pamela Baker
Pamela Baker is of Squamish, Kwakiutl, Tlingit, and Haida ancestral background. The lineage in which she comes from sparks major inspiration for her designs and collections. While using traditional elements in Baker’s own art throughout her career, she
has founded Touch of Color, TOC Legends Designs and Copperknot Jewelry. These milestones have even brought Baker to receive prestigious awards including the Arthur Gilbert Award and N.A.M.S.B (menswear). Within her designs in the 2022 fashion show, Baker majorly focuses on graphics and patterns.
Jason Baerg
One of my personal favorite looks from the 2022 SWAIA Native Fashion Week come from the imagination of Jason Baerg. Born in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, Baerg serves as a visual artist, activist, and designer who is notable for his share in color pops and silk use.
Baerg has been featured in the NYC based Fashion Art Gallery with the release of his first commercial cruise capsule collection and even had the opportunity to present his brand, Ayimach Horizons at Indigenous Fashion Week Toronto. His showstopping pieces in the SWAIA Shiny Drop Gala capture his creativity and playful side through his use of fringe and supersized jewelry. Not only does he create pieces that embody senses of Indigenous tradition, but these designs represent the creative outlet Baerg has found in 3-dimensional art.
Patricia Michaels
Patricia Michaels offers one of the most unique brands spotlighted in Native Fashion Week. Michaels draws attention towards nature and her Native lineage of Taos Pueblo. With hand dyed pieces produced of organic material, Michaels represents authenticity and a mix of old and new through her fashion.
While she uses algae pigments to hand paint her work, this has all contributed to the creation of her label, PM Waterlily, originating in New Mexico. Michaels has won recognition through her debuts in Project Runway, New York Fashion Week, and becoming the first Native American designer a part of NYC’s Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week.
As she describes in her mission statement,
“I create highly individualized pieces that are elegant, fluid, sophisticated, and organic by fusing my own aesthetic with Native American and European perspectives,” (Michaels 2019).
Orlando Dugi
Orlando Dugi, born in the Navajo Nation, likes to take a meticulous approach on his looks through hand sewing and hand beading his work. Dugi makes use of Diné traditions when embellishing his fabric while also incorporating timelessness in his showcases.
The Orlando Dugi Brand circulates woven materials such as wool and silk using traditional weaving and dyeing techniques, similar to Patricia Michaels. Dugi’s use of glamorous gems form traditional images of the sun that represent a part of his Navajo heritage. From all of the time Dugi has committed to embroidering and enhancement, he has received numerous acknowledgements and awards from showcases including the Heard Museum Guild Art Show and the Cherokee Art Show.
SWAIA reveals a new generation of elegance while also reminiscing about ancestral inspirations of Native tribes. The foundations of these eloquent creations represent how the use of traditional fashion pieces and techniques can be incorporated in the present day fashion industry. It is far too rare that Native American designers have the opportunity to showcase their talent in modern day fashion events globally, which is why it is key that we recognize the work that SWAIA has put into ensuring that these designers gain the recognition they have worked for their entire lives.
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