by Christian Allaire

Perched up high on a hilltop overlooking the Los Angeles skyline, the Getty Museum served as the dramatic backdrop for a new Fashioning Indigenous Futurism runway show held last night. As guests filtered in wearing their best Native American couture—including VIPs such as actor Tantoo Cardinal in her Patricia Michaels gown—they proceeded to take in the new collections of five contemporary designers who are redefining Indigenous fashion: Jason Baerg, Orlando Dugi, Jontay Kahm, Caroline Monnet, and Jamie Okuma. (Artist Virgil Ortiz, meanwhile, also displayed special AR art activation on-site.)

by Ryma Chikhoune

Indigenous art fashion and technology are blended in PST Art’s collaborative exhibition with Autry Museum of the American West, which came to life in a runway show at The Getty in Los Angeles on Monday.

Titled “Fashioning Indigenous Futurism,” the show featured the works of Indigenous fashion designers Jason Baerg, Orlando Dugi, Jontay Kahm, Caroline Monnet and Jamie Okuma. The group presented collections that fused together ancestral know-how with future-thinking designs. Their work was shown alongside an AR activation — “ReVolt 1680/2180” — created by Pueblo artist Virgil Ortiz, known for his pottery figures and immersive art.

by Kate Nelson

Indigenous fashion is in the spotlight, thanks in large part to actresses like Lily Gladstone and models such as Quannah Chasinghorse. But it isn’t merely a passing trend. This unprecedented, and long overdue, celebration of authentic Native representation has been thousands of years in the making—and it honors long-held cultural traditions and techniques of countless tribal communities.

by Simbarashe Cha

For four days in early May, Indigenous fashion designers, models and artisans from across North America came to Santa Fe, N.M., for Native Fashion Week.

A first in the fashion world is putting a burgeoning sector on the map. A fashion show in Santa Fe, New Mexico, featured clothing created by Indigenous designers from the U.S. and Canada. Special correspondent Megan Thompson had a front-row seat for our arts and culture series, CANVAS.

Amber-Dawn Bear Robe is a Fashion Show Program Director for the Southwestern Association for Indian Arts, Amber-Dawn Bear Robe has played a pivotal role in the representation of Indigenous designers on a national platform. She has demonstrated profound dedication to empowering Indigenous talent, art, and design history and has set the stage for a more inclusive and culturally rich fashion landscape.

by Booth Moore

Jontay Kahm was all business backstage on Sunday at the Santa Fe Convention Center, ahead of his debut at the Southwest Association of Indian Arts group fashion show.

by Benjamin Korman

The Southwestern Association for American Indian Arts (SWAIA) Fashion Show in Santa Fe, New Mexico, is the preeminent event in North America for premiering new collections from Indigenous fashion designers. Curator and art historian Amber-Dawn Bear Robe created the event in 2014, and has since brought luminaries of Native North American fashion like B.Yellowtail, Sho Sho Esquiro, Jamie Okuma, Loren Aragon, Patricia Michaels, Violet Ahmie, Orlando Dugi, and Yolonda Skelton to the runway each year.

by Christian Allaire

To kick off the 100th Santa Fe Indian Market late last month—one of the city’s biggest events of the year, where Indigenous artists across North America gather to showcase and sell their works—a special fashion exhibit debuted at the IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts. Similar to the goal of the Indian Market, the new “Art of Indigenous Fashion” exhibit, which is on view until January 2023, was launched with the aim to spotlight contemporary Native fashion. It proves that Indigenous design isn’t one specific thing but rather greatly varies depending on an artist’s tribe, location, and style. “There is no one way to explain Indigenous fashion,” says the exhibit’s guest curator, Amber-Dawn Bear Robe.

Bear Robe was awarded with two regional Emmys in 2020 and 2021 for her work as producer for two documentary short films on Indigenous art & fashion: Walk with Pride and Cara Romero: Following the Light.