Ayimach_Lodge
Ayimach_Lodge is a unique collaboration between Canadian fashion designers Angela DeMontigny (Cree-Métis) and Jason Baerg (Métis Nation), and actor Rachelle White Wind (Ojibwe-Cree). Baerg will be most familiar to Santa Fe audiences since he has participated in SWAIA’s fashion events for several years. DeMontigny is known for her use of leather and suede in her clothing and handbags, as well as cultural motifs from her background including fringe, beadwork and cutwork in a style she describes as “Indigenous luxury.”
www.jasonbaerg.ca | @ayimach_lodge
Carrie Wood “Chizhii”
Carrie Wood (Navajo (Diné)) resides in Santa Fe, where she uses fashion design as a creative outlet. Her Chizhii brand draws inspiration from her culture and community, always striving to make pieces that resonate with them. In recent years, Wood has been very active in the art and fashion scene in Santa Fe.
Himikalas Pamela Baker of T.O.C Legends
Baker (Kwaguilth/Sqaumish) is on a lifelong search to provide First Nations people a stage to showcase their culture. As a single mother, she moved her two children to Los Angeles to study at Otis College of Art and Design where she obtained her degree in fashion design. She would later develop a viable long-term business that included employing First Nations people, as well as create Touch of Culture, her own unique fashion/jewelry with First Nation designs.
@himikalas | Image by Tira Howard
Justin Jacob Louis
Justin Jacob Louis is the creative director and founder of SECTION 35, an Indigenous-owned streetwear company. He is a member of the Samson Cree Nation and was born and raised in Nipisihkopahk (Samson) on Treaty 6 Territory. He now calls Unceded Stó:lō Territory his home. His work blends the past with the present and finds inspiration in the juxtaposition between these elements. He launched SECTION 35 in 2016 with the intention to use art and fashion to tell his peoples’ stories.
www.sectionthirtyfive.com | @sectionthirtyfive
House of Sutai by Peshawn Bread
Filmmaker, model and designer Peshawn Bread (Comanche/Kiowa/Cherokee) recently announced the creation of their own fashion house, House of Sutai. The name comes from the Comanche word for “bless,” which Bread has always held dearly to themselves, and what they now hope to share with their audience. Their passion for blending their tribal histories and their eye for imagery was easily seen both in the work as well as the modeling photos featuring their partner, Cole Forrest.
Lesley Hampton
Lesley Hampton is an Anishinaabe artist and designer focused on mental health awareness, body positivity and authentic representation in fashion, film and media. She is the creative director of her own brand, an Indigenous-owned, size-inclusive clothing and accessory brand based in Toronto. She is also a signed curve model with BNM Model Management and speaker on Indigenous entrepreneurship.
www.lesleyhampton.com | @lesley_hampton
Loren Aragon of Towering Stone
Loren Aragon is the co-founder of ACONAV with Valentina Aragon. Loren is from Acoma Pueblo and Valentina is Navajo. Their brand’s name is a fusion of Acoma and Navajo. ACONAV is a couture fashion brand that celebrates the strength and empowerment of women worldwide. The brand strives to evoke the empowerment of women with positive ideas that are embodied in designs that tie culture to modern style. ACONAV is a respectful representation of the Acoma Pueblo whose traditions and world-renowned pottery art culture are reflected in unique luxury designs.
Maria Hupfield
Maria Hupfield is Anishinaabe-kwe of Wasauksing First Nation. The Toronoto artist and designer has had numerous solo projects and exhibitions, including at major museums and events around the country. Together with her husband, artist Jason Lujan, Hupfield co-owns Native Art Department International, which began in New York City. The project is focused on mutual support, collaboration and a shared commitment to showcasing Native American and First Nations Peoples, alongside international artists.
www.nativeartdepartment.org | @mariahupfield
Penny Singer
Penny Singer is an urban Navajo (Diné) designers from Farmington, New Mexico. She has been sewing since she was 7 years old after watching her mom make traditional clothes. After her teen years, she was entirely self-taught. Her studio is in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she handmakes jackets, handbags, ribbon shirts and accessories.
www.pennysinger.com | @pennysinger
Orlando Dugi
Diné designer Orlando Dugi draws inspiration from his childhood memories of stargazing in the desert of Northern Arizona while spending summer vacations on his paternal grandparents’ sheep ranch. The stars hold deep meaning to the Diné people as songs and prayers passed down through generations of astronomical knowledge. This coupled with the phrase, “Walk in Beauty”—a way of being in harmony with all that’s around you, a state of grace—is the foundation of the Orlando Dugi brand. “Beauty before me, beauty behind me, beauty below me, beauty above me, beauty all around me,” the designer says.
www.orlandodugi.com | @orlandodugi | Image by Tira Howard
Qaulluq
Inupiaq designer Qaulluq’s (Clara McConnell) fashion line is grounded by her desire to share Iñupiat Ilitqusiat and the passing on of traditional knowledge and teachings. She first learned the arts of skin and fabric sewing from generations of women in her family. Her work is playful yet glamorous, combining luxurious materials with Inupiaq pattern designs and motifs such as Taqalakisaq (butterflies), as a nod to the land and transformation.
www.qaulluq.com | @qaulluq | Image by Tira Howard
Patricia Michaels
For more than 20 years, Patricia Michaels has been producing one-of-a-kind haute couture that transcends cultures and defies fashion trends. Growing up in Santa Fe, New Mexico, she was surrounded by beauty—in culture, landscape, and art, all which greatly influenced her design aesthetic. Her Native American culture is deeply rooted in New Mexico, and as a child, she spent a lot of time at Taos Pueblo where many of her family, including her grandparents, lived. Michaels has appeared on two versions of Project Runway and won numerous awards, including the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture’s 2024 Living Treasure award.
www.patricia-michaels.com | @patriciamichaels
Image by Tira Howard
Randy Leigh Barton
Randy Leigh Barton, also known as Randy Boogie, is the owner of Boogie Gallerie, a conceptual art gallery and home for rotating, limited-run and exclusive collaborations including paintings, wearable art, music and digital hype. Barton started the endeavor in 2021. Boogie Gallerie is a manifestation of his unwavering dedication to pushing the boundaries of creative exploration.
www.boogiegallerie.com | @randy_boogie
Victoria’s Arctic Fashion
Founded in 2014, Victoria’s Arctic Fashion (V.A.F.) is an up-and-coming design label that fuses traditional northern garments and accessories with a modern style. Started by Victoria Kakuktinniq, V.A.F. has already established itself across Canada as a brand favorite in the North. She has showcased her designs at Paris Fashion Week, New York Fashion Week and Toronto Fashion Week. Kakuktinniq is an Inuk woman, born and raised in Rankin Inlet, Nunavut. She has always been deeply immersed in her Inuit culture.
Amber-Dawn Bear Robe, SWAIA Native Fashion
Producer/Director
Amber-Dawn Bear Robe, from Siksika Nation, Alberta, Canada, achieved a master’s degree in American Indian studies and then a second in art history, both from the University of Arizona. Currently, she is an assistant faculty of art history in the museum studies department at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe. She is also a curator, Emmy-award winning filmmaker and organizes the annual fashion show during SWAIA’s Santa Fe Indian Market.
Powered by Froala Editor
