SANTA FE, New Mexico — “I want to be the creative director of Alexander McQueen,” rising Plains Cree designer Jontay Kahm said backstage after showing his collection Sunday night at the Southwestern Association for American Indian Arts Fashion Show here, which featured an abundance of antique, avant-garde rooster feathers, trippy pens and pony beads on the runway.
Kahm’s dream could now become a reality as indigenous designers are rightfully taking their place in the fashion world, with Santa Fe as a major hub and the SWAIA runway as the main showcase for designers celebrating heritage and innovation.
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Kahm, who will become the first Indigenous designer to graduate from Parsons’ MFA program next year, has already dressed Lily Gladstone. His sophomore collection continued to highlight his ecstatic creativity and technique of building clothes to form, with draped and beaded or fully feathered garments, including his take on an Americana red T-shirt and blue jeans. There were also flocked, va-va-voom diva dresses and coats that paid homage to A-list icons like Marilyn Monroe, while others nod to warrior regalia and religious iconography from his own culture.
The designer, who was scouted by Parsons at the Institute of American Indian Arts College in Santa Fe and credits the sound suits of Iris van Herpen and Nick Cave as inspiration, was one of many who took part in shows and events around the city this past weekend, coinciding with the 102nd annual Indian Market.
On Thursday, Dine weaver Naiomi Glasses debuted her third collection as part of the Ralph Lauren Artist in Residence program at a nearly sold-out retail event.
On Saturday, the Santa Fe Railyard hosted the 4Kinship Indigenous Futures 4Ever Fashion Show. It was a spectacular transnational fashion show featuring the brilliant Indo-Hispanic Chicano designer and weaver Josh Tafoya, Mexico City-based star Carla Fernandez, and Oaxaca-based American workwear brand Graziano and Gutierrez, which is making textiles in an improved way. There was also music by Haisla Nation hip-hop band Snotty Nose Rez Kids.
Meanwhile, Plains artist and designer Son of Picasso showed off his punk-rock-inspired Products of My Environment streetwear at the Sovereign art show at the La Fonda Hotel, using graphic and boro techniques to express indigenous pride.
The growing celebration of contemporary fashion is due in large part to the work of Siksika curator and art historian Amber-Dawn Bear Robe. She created the SWAIA Fashion Show in 2014 and has grown it into the premier event in North America for introducing new collections from Indigenous designers, as well as a full-fledged Indigenous Fashion Week, which takes place every May.
“My dream is for Indigenous designers to be part of the larger fashion community, but still have our own unique perspective, because we don’t have homes with pen makers and moose tufting,” she said of the need to preserve those crafts. “And a big part of my job is merging fashion and art.”
Many of the designers on Sunday’s runway excel at both, including Jamie Okuma, one of the event’s biggest draws, whose clothes sell out within minutes of being posted on her website. A successful beadworker and painter before launching her line, in 2023 she became the first Indigenous designer invited to join the Council of Fashion Designers of America.
On Sunday, the Southern California-based designer of Luiseno, Shoshone-Bannock, Wailaki and Okinawa presented her new collection of stretchy, relaxed and evening-out bamboo cotton pieces in gorgeous neutrals like linen and peony floral prints, always with a quirky twist. Think graphic sheath dresses and tights that hark back to the ’60s, a very rock ‘n’ roll pantsuit and a hand-painted suede jacket that showed off her artistic flair.
The bamboo cotton pieces are her first to be produced through a new deal with fashion tech company Resonance, and will be available in late September. “I can make my own samples in LA, send them to New York, then it’s built on their platform and everything is made in the Dominican Republic and it’s all completely natural fabrics,” she said of the business development, which will allow her to scale more easily.
Lauren Good Day, a North Dakota-based Arikara, Hidatsa, Blackfeet and Cree ledger and bead artist, has such a thriving direct-to-consumer business with her printed men’s and women’s clothing, accessories and leather handbags that she’s looking for wholesale partners. “I wanted to make my art accessible, so I started ready-to-wear,” she said of her pieces, priced under $300.
On the runway, her new work highlighted the beauty of the Plains prairie through her drawings of buffalo, butterflies, horses and morning stars, from boho dresses to T-shirt dresses and a dramatic skirt and jacket in a print inspired by her beadwork. “I want to make my designs accessible to my people,” she said, about why she started with ready-to-wear.
Her booth at Indian Market was packed both days, and her pieces were worn all over Santa Fe. “I have so much support from my people,” she said, noting that her runway models included artist Naiomi Glasses, Cree and Salish singer Tia Wood, actress Amber Midthunder and more Native Americans. “I want our people to be represented, no matter where they’re 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 men’s show. She was invited by longtime Williams collaborator Dee Jay Twobears. “He brought the community with him… singers, dancers, artists. Indigenous people had the opportunity to see haute couture and represent ourselves. It’s always really important to keep the community in mind and bring them along.”
The ticketed fashion event, held at the Santa Fe Convention Center, featured Canadian First Nations artist Kent Monkman showcasing how he uses fashion in his practice as his alter ego Miss Chief, and in his paintings about indigenous resilience. The show also featured collections by Anishinaabe contemporary artist Caroline Monnet, who used industrial building materials, and ASEP Designs, who used computer-generated jewelry on clothing. A selection of looks from Balmain’s fall collection were brought over from Paris by a brand representative with a connection to Santa Fe, who was “blown away” by last year’s show.
There was also a pop-up shop in the lobby, where Tierra Alysia was moved to tears on Sunday afternoon.
The Kashia Pomo designer, who visited Central Saint Martins in London, had just sold four hand-beaded silk cashmere long coats from her Vividus Runway collection. “I made over $50,000,” she said of the gorgeous one-of-one pieces that reference traditional natural elements and tribal symbols. She showed on the runway at Indigenous Fashion Week in May, but this was her first Indian Market, and a successful one at that.
“I’m used to being the only Native girl in school, and sometimes you feel weird. But here we’re the ‘It’ girls, and that’s really cool,” she said. “We’re the moment, and people are paying attention and giving us value for the first time.”
Launch Gallery: 2024 SWAIA Native Fashion Show in Santa Fe, New Mexico
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