Indigenous fashion is on the rise for the same reason that authentic Native American representation is trending in pop culture: Consumers are craving the real deal. That’s a welcome shift after decades of appropriation by top fashion houses eager to capitalize on so-called Indigenous-inspired clothing often featuring tribal-esque iconography in stereotypical colorways.
Now, Native American and First Nations designers are giving the fashion world looks that tell a story and reflect their unique heritage. After all, there are 574 federally recognized tribes in the United States alone, each with their own creation stories and rich traditions tied to their specific geography and history.
Santa Fe, New Mexico, has recently emerged as the unexpected epicenter for Indigenous design thanks in large part to the Southwestern Association for Indian Arts, which for more than a century has amplified Native creatives through its popular Indian Market, and earlier this year produced the United States’s first Native Fashion Week. We just returned from America’s oldest capital city, where we scouted these five need-to-know Indigenous fashion and accessories designers. Their latest collections are as ready for the red carpet as they are for everyday wear by Native and non-Native fashionistas alike.
A look from Jamie Okuma’s collection.
Photograph by Cameron Linton
Last year, Luiseño/Shoshone-Bannock/Wailaki/Okinawan designer Jamie Okuma made history as the first Native American inducted into the prestigious Council of Fashion Designers of America. That well-deserved accolade is in recognition of the Southern Californian’s bodycon dresses, graphic blazers, and similar statement pieces that are donned by everyone from model/activist Quannah ChasingHorse (Hän Gwich’in/Sičangu/Oglala Lakota) to Minnesota Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan (White Earth Band of Ojibwe). A trailblazer who’s bringing Indigenous fashion to the forefront, Okuma loves that Native designs are finally getting their time in the limelight and endeavors to make them even more accessible to the public.
“Every collection is completely organic and never sketched out prior to creation,” Okuma says. That includes her latest collection, which she debuted at the SWAIA Indian Market Native Fashion Show earlier this month. “The collection reflects the beauty that has surrounded me these past six months. Within the darkness of the state of the world we are in at the moment, I found beautiful, light flowers and gorgeous earth tones within the landscapes I saw.” Quite literally wearing optimism on your sleeve? That’s a trend we can get behind.
A look from Lesley Hampton’s Alkaline collection.
Photograph by Kikki Guerard
Toronto-based Anishinaabe designer Lesley Hampton focuses first and foremost on body neutrality, which shines through in her dynamic designs, from everyday womenswear to special-occasion gowns. With her size-inclusive and universally flattering ’fits, she’s advocating for a fashion world where “height, hip size, and heredity” aren’t the only factors taken into consideration. A member of Temagami First Nation, Hampton grew up obsessed with fashion but never saw herself reflected. “That grew into wanting to create an inclusive space for people like me to see ourselves represented,” she adds.
Her latest collection, called Alkaline, “embodies the neutrality that fashion and community can bring to the acidic, polarizing environments that have been created by industry and society.” It’s no wonder Hampton’s pleated skirts, wrap dresses, and drape gowns have caught the attention of body-neutrality icons like Lizzo and Blackfeet/Nimíipuu actress Lily Gladstone. Her clothes are approachable for non-Natives who want to dabble in Indigenous designs, since they center less on tribal motifs and more on community and sustainability. “I hope people who interact with my work can feel the sense of good medicine that’s put into each garment,” Hampton says.
Plains Cree designer Jontay Kahm grew up on the Mosquito First Nation in Saskatchewan, Canada, going to powwows and witnessing the “colors, shapes, movement, and kinetic energy set to the sound.” But he didn’t know he wanted to work in fashion until he saw Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance“ music video in 2009. “I was like, ‘Whoa, what is this?’” he recalls of the video filled with avant-garde Alexander McQueen looks. “It was so ecstatic, eccentric, and amazing. I try to carry that same energy into my work today.”
Kahm is doing just that—as evidenced by his Ethereal Realms collection, which he showed at the SWAIA Indian Market Native Fashion Show. It’s a fanciful assemblage of beads, feathers, and ribbons with undeniably Indigenous origins; each ornate piece can take upward of 180 hours to make. “I’m taking traditional Native American materials and inspirations from ceremonial regalia and shaping them into European silhouettes,” he explains. That makes for couture looks like an angelic jacket-and-trouser ensemble crafted from deadstock feathers found in a New York fabric warehouse. Kahm now calls New York City home, since being sought out for a full-ride scholarship to Parsons. He will be the first Indigenous designer to graduate from the school’s MFA program next year.
A design by Jennifer Younger.
Photograph by Caitlin Blaisdell
Jewelry maker Jennifer Younger didn’t grow up immersed in her Tlingit culture, because her grandmother experienced abusive and oppressive assimilation policies at an Indian boarding school, an all-too-common phenomenon in Native communities. In 2012, the Sitka, Alaska carver decided to take up the art of formline design to better connect to her heritage, learning from father-and-son artisans Dave and Nicholas Galanin. Since then, Younger has made a name for herself—like having her work on the cover of British Vogue—thanks to her intricately carved cuffs, earrings, necklaces, and body chains made of silver, gold, and copper with abalone, turquoise, and other earthly accents. Although this type of design is typically used to display Tlingit clan crests, Younger has branched out to broader themes like butterflies and hummingbirds.
“I want to introduce formline to people who aren’t familiar with Northwest Coast designs,” she says. “I have some special pieces that belonged to my grandmother, but I want the next generation to take pride in their heritage and carry on this form, so I create more contemporary pieces for everyday wear.”
A look from Rhiannon Griego.
Photograph by Ashley Hafstead
Working from her Santa Fe, New Mexico, studio and en plein air settings in the surrounding desert, Tohono O’odham/Mexican/Spanish weaver Rhiannon Griego adheres to three basic design principles: elegance, simplicity, and versatility. Those are apparent in her handwoven capes, tunics, and tie dresses that ooze with the essence of the Southwest in their palette, movement, and materials. Griego utilizes sustainable, naturally dyed wool, cotton, silk, hemp, and bamboo as well as some unexpected found fibers like agave, yucca, and horsehair.
“As a person of mixed heritage and a reconnecting Indigenous woman, I find there is a beautiful interweaving of my backgrounds that voice themselves in the work,” Griego says. Her tie dresses, for example, are a subtle homage to the aprons her mother, grandmothers, and aunties wore while cooking family meals on countless occasions. “There is a strong power in that simplistic design that reflects the feminine strength of alchemizing ingredients into memories of time and place.”
