SWAIA launching first week in U.S. dedicated to Indigenous fashion

Organizers hope the May event, with fashion shows, symposiums, soirée, becomes an annual local happening

The lights dim, the crowd hushes and the runway illuminates. Fashion shows are whirlwind events that Amber-Dawn Bear Robe works for months to produce — for what “seems like a minute” of models in the spotlight.

“It’s a lot of energy, a lot of personalities, a lot of talent and innovation, all wrapped up into one event,” she said.

This month, the Southwestern Association for Indian Arts announced its launch of the first annual Santa Fe Indigenous Fashion Week, to be held May 2-5. It will involve several fashion shows, symposiums and a soirée.

While Vancouver Indigenous Fashion Week, which launched in 2017, has drawn attention in Canada, the Santa Fe Indigenous Fashion Week will be the first in the U.S. and will feature designers from both countries, SWAIA Executive Director Jamie Schulze said.

The four-day event will build on the momentum of fashion shows during Indian Market, which have grown in the number of designers, models and attendees.

“Native fashion isn’t new, it’s just people are paying attention to it,” said Bear Robe, a curator and art historian from the Siksika Nation, adding that attention to Indigenous fashion has grown across Canada and the United States.

In Santa Fe, that didn’t happen overnight, she said.

Bear Robe has produced SWAIA’s Indigenous fashion shows since the first in 2014, which had “no budget, a U-Haul to transport models to the outside runway location and a DJ with a microphone,” she said in a news release.

Public interest spurred growth of the annual show from there, said designer Orlando Dugi, who lives in Santa Fe and has participated in most of the Indian Market fashion shows since 2014.

Dugi designs special occasion clothing — inspired by the beauty and elegance of traditional ceremonies he attended growing up on the Navajo Nation, which were mostly held at night under the stars — and said fashion shows are important for his sales.

As a designer, “you have to build your brand, you have to build recognition,” he said. “You can stay online, but a lot of people want to see things in person.”

But fashion shows are also expensive to produce, Dugi said. Many require designers to pay to participate. SWAIA’s shows are great because the organization tries to cover those costs, he said.

For Schulze, supporting the fashion shows is important “because representation is one of the key things that Indian Country is always struggling with,” she said.

“We’re always educating people. … We are not invisible; we are living cultures and we’re still present,” she said. “Giving more voices a platform to be highlighted is the goal.”

The Fashion Week will include panels where new and established designers talk about things like what Indigenous fashion is, what that means and what kinds of opportunities exist for young artists.

“We’re looking for this to be a larger conversation in the fashion industry,” Schulze said.

Bear Robe hopes the event will not only be important for Indigenous fashion but will also become an important annual event for Santa Fe and the state.