December 31, 2010

Chantal Rondeau's Year in Review


Check out First Nations journalism student Chantal Rondeau's Year in Review on her blog, Life and Times of a Modern Day NDN Princess. Her 2010 review includes some nods to First Nations fashion designers (Alano Edzerdza and Sho Sho Esquiro) and some Native fashion models.

Click here to read the full post.

December 29, 2010

Canadian Aboriginal Festival Fashion 2010 Review, Round 1

Each year during the annual Canadian Aboriginal Festival in Ontario, Turtle Concepts hosts a fashion show to highlight First Nations fashion designers.

I attended the latest event, held November 26-28, 2010 in Hamilton. The show featured various local designers and t-shirt companies (who also had booths where they sold their gear during the festival).

December 26, 2010

Event | Lecture on Native Fashion at SAR in Santa Fe

Lecture on Native Fashion at the School for Advanced Research, Santa Fe, NM

If you happen to be in the Santa Fe region in mid-January, I will be giving a presentation at the School for Advanced Research on Native high fashion. See below for details, or click here.

Native Designers of High Fashion: Expressing Identity, Creativity, and Tradition in Contemporary Clothing Design
By Jessica R. Metcalfe, Postdoctoral Diversity Fellow, Office for Equity and Inclusion, Department of Anthropology and Native Studies, University of New Mexico
Wednesday, January 19, 2011, 12:00–1:00 pm

Native American traditional art forms have been reincarnated by contemporary Native designers and placed on human bodies in the form of haute couture. This presentation traces the history of Native fashion, from Lloyd Kiva New (Cherokee) through Wendy Ponca (Osage) and Virgil Ortiz (Cochiti). Also explored are concepts of beauty and the issue of cultural misappropriation.

December 24, 2010

Top Trends Some Wish To End

Happy Holidays everyone!

As we approach the new year, fashion reviewers (albeit amateurs perhaps) are writing fashion prospects for 2011 -

Jaime Lee Morgan at Phillyist.com lists Native American Headdresses as one of the Top Five Fashion Trends We Don't Want To See Next Year.

Phillyist writes:
Native appropriation in hipster fashion has caused a stir in the blogging community this year with post after post speaking out against the trend. It's not the headdress itself that makes them an unappealing fashion trend—they're actually quite beautiful—it's the complete disregard of cultural significance that is disheartening.

Click here to read the original list, which includes sandal boots, jeggings, photoblogs, and ironic moustaches.

December 22, 2010

Virgil Ortiz's Website Gets a Facelift



Virgil Ortiz's website gets a facelift. Check it out, shop around, get a free tote. Men's and women's shirts go for $49-$96, and silk scarves sell for $250-$400.

For previous posts on Ortiz, click here.


December 21, 2010

Harajuku Kayenta

TokyoFashion.com posted a photo essay focusing on Harajuku Christmas pictures - and right in the center of the fashion mecca was a boutique named Kayenta selling Native-inspired jewelry and trinkets:


"If you suddenly have an urge to buy Native America jewelry and crafts in the center of Harajuku, Kayenta is there for you."

For the original post, click here!

(Note: Kayenta is a town located in Arizona and is part of the Navajo Nation - and it's highly unlikely that the products sold in the store are actually from Kayenta)

December 20, 2010

Carol Melting Tallow has Native Notions


Carol Melting Tallow, a student at the Institute of American Indian Arts, was recently featured in the IAIA Chronicle.

Melting Tallow is a multi-talented dancer, designer and entrepreneur from the Blood Nation. After graduating from Lethbridge College with a degree in fashion design and marketing, she started her own fashion on-line design business called Native Notions.

Click here to read the full story.


(Above: Dress by Carol Melting Tallow, model Lisa Muswagon, photography by Larry Price.)

December 17, 2010

Video | Original Leather Fashions by Angela DeMontigny

An oldie but a goodie -
check out this video featuring the fashion designs of Angela DeMontigny:

December 16, 2010

Mahota Women


Chickasaw/Choctaw weaver and fashion designer Margaret Roach Wheeler was recently featured in the Chickasaw Times newspaper; click here to read the article online.

December 15, 2010

Job Opportunity: Assistant Professor of Fashion at Parsons


Parsons, The New School for Design, a division of The New School, seeks applicants for an Assistant Professor, renewable term appointment within the School of Art and Design History and Theory at Parsons. Applicants should demonstrate expertise in fashion studies including the theory, culture, histories and practices of fashion. Candidates must show evidence of innovative pedagogical approaches and be forward-thinking about what skills and literacies are now required to adeptly respond to complex global conditions. Position starts July 1, 2011.

Minimum Qualifications:
•A PhD degree or demonstrated equivalence and published work in design studies/design history and theory relevant to specific position.
•A minimum of 3 years’ teaching experience at university level
•Thorough knowledge of current scholarship in the field of fashion studies.
•Demonstrated record of excellence in research, scholarship or creative practice.
•Proven track record of working well with people from diverse cultural backgrounds, professional training and aesthetic sensibilities.
•Understanding of the implications of fashion and design practices in relationship to broader social, cultural, economic, scientific and technological forces.
•Interest in developing serious critical, historical, and theoretical discussions around the study of fashion
•Ability to develop and nurture individual student’s abilities and a strong commitment to progressive design education.
•Excellent writing and interpersonal communication skills.
•Good management skills, including the ability to meet deadlines, communicate and motivate effectively.
•An interest in working collaboratively within Parsons, the University, and with external partners towards the development of shared projects and initiatives.

Additional Information: Parsons is engaged in a Diversity Initiative and so individuals from groups under-represented in U.S. higher education are strongly encouraged to apply. Applicants with an engagement with the contemporary art/design of Asia, Africa, Europe or Latin America and/or African Americans, Latinos, or Native Americans is highly desirable.

At Parsons we are continuing to strengthen our academic programs through a series of strategic faculty hires. The faculty we seek will help us expand our current and future curricular offerings at both the undergraduate and graduate levels by embracing new forms of critically engaged disciplinary and trans-disciplinary practice. In this exciting period of growth, we are redesigning our curriculum so that it encourages students to make more deliberate choices about the kinds of issues they wish to creatively address in their work, linking what they learn within the classroom to more project-based learning throughout New York City and the world.

Please see www.parsons.edu to learn more about Parsons and the School of Art and Design History and Theory.

Application Instructions: Applicants for faculty positions must apply on-line using the faculty application on The New School human resources website http://careers.newschool.edu. Applicants may be contacted at the discretion of the search committee for additional materials, such as digital portfolio/work samples.

December 11, 2010

Native Fashion Adorns Runway in Akwesasne

Native fashion adorns runway in Akwesasne

Four years ago, a tobacco company in Akwesasne, Jacobs Manufacturing, started a native fashion show to raise money for the local hat and mitten fund. The “Nations Best Next Top Model Show” has grown into a big attraction. More than a thousand fans filled the Jacobs plant on the St. Regis Mohawk reservation last Saturday night.

December 9, 2010

Martini Couture at Scottsdale Fashion Week

Last month, Martini Couture (by Dii Martin of the Navajo Nation) was featured during the annual Scottsdale Fashion Week in Arizona.

Scottsdale Fashion Week is one of the premiere fashion events in the Southwest, and Martini Couture opened the Friday night set. She’s a rising star on the fashion set, pumping out high-end rez streetwear packed with a ton of attitude and cute little cocktail dresses well-suited for a night out on the town.

December 7, 2010

Patricia Michaels Hard Rock Fashion Show

November is officially over (well, by a solid week), and here’s the beginning of some of the reviews of the Native fashion events that happened in the past 30 days –

Patricia Michaels in New Mexico:
Taos fashion designer Patricia Michaels participated in a fashion show and fundraiser for New Mexico Tribal Libraries at Isleta Hard Rock Hotel & Casino on November 6. Michaels volunteered her time to support this important initiative.

She let me and my friend Keith Grosbeck backstage to get some pics (and I must say, backstage at a PM Waterlily show is very calm, organized and professional). We also sat in the front-row for the runway show.