Showcasing Indigenous fashion and craft
A new retail collection taps eight design talents from across Canada
Among the sweeping cancellations and postponements due to COVID-19 was IFWTO (Indigenous Fashion Week Toronto), a multi-platform festival celebrating Indigenous craft, textiles and fashion set to take place at the Harbourfront Centre this month.
For now, the event is on hold, but one aspect of the showcase is going ahead as planned: a special fashion collection produced by Quebec-based department chain Simons in collaboration with Indigenous fashion creators.
For the collection, which drops online on May 28, Simons produced simple base garments out of organic linen — shift dresses; loose, shortsleeve tops; and cropped pants. From there, eight Indigenous designers from across Canada were given artistic freedom to transform the pieces using the craft techniques of their communities.
The pieces will retail between $95 and $395 on the Simons website and in-store, once they reopen. “What has come to be known as Indigenous fashion is actually a diverse multiplicity of nations, culture, creativity and generational knowledge,” says Sage Paul, artist, designer and artistic director of IWFTO, who helped oversee the collaboration. “The collection features red ochre dye from Canada’s arctic, Anishinaabe floral designs interpreted in three different ways, contemporary interpretations of formline art and Métis weaving, delicate Haudenosaunee beadwork, and Mi’kmaq quillwork reimagined into digital graphics,” explains Paul.
The concept for the collection was born after Paul and Simons buyer Océane Stanislas took part in The Kit‘s Canadian Fashion Roundtable last year. “We started talking about Indigenous fashion and agreed that the Indigenous savoir faire passed on through generations, as well as the very unique and rich creativity of the artists, deserved to be largely broadcasted,” says Stanislas.
“This collection has been designed to allow a broad demographic to access this type of work,” says Paul.
While beautiful and intricate, the pieces in the collection feel contemporary and fit perfectly alongside Simons’s existing high-end offerings from bigname designers. This kind of approach is exactly what’s needed to help Indigenous designers find a wider audience and grow their brands in a sustainable way, lowering the barrier of entry while providing vital online commerce, marketing and distribution channels to talented creators.
“By joining forces we saw an opportunity to implement Indigenous leadership in how we, Indigenous people, are represented in the fashion industry, to support and value Indigenous expression and craftsmanship and to promote local, sustainable fashion practices,” says Paul.
For Stanislas, the collaboration fits into her own mission to promote artistic expression and mindful consumption of fashion.
“It will fuel a ‘ Buy less, choose well, make it last’ approach to fashion that has been long overdue. To me, buying locally is essential (for) the fashion industry to achieve sustainability.”
For Paul, staying connected to her family and community has helped her get though quarantine.
“I am video conferencing with friends and family to ‘work’ with them,” Paul said.
“I’ll spend chunks of time pattern-making while my sister beads. Every now and then we’ll both giggle over a funny story about her sons or a cat we see outside, but mostly we’re working ‘side by side’ with just atmosphere sounds.”
As for the future of Indigenous fashion, Paul is hopeful. “Business is often competitive, but now I’m seeing industry information shared that was once hoarded for individual gain. I envision the future of Indigenous fashion as integral to global fashion, where practices of sustainability, integrity and respect are adopted.”
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