"It's a Kiva Bag"

Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, Lloyd Kiva New (Cherokee) worked with Charles Loloma (Hopi) to create couture handbags that they sold out of their boutiques in Scottsdale. These purses were so popular that in 1949 the phrase “It’s a Kiva bag,” was coined and printed in local and national newspapers.

The Kiva Center: Now and Then

The other weekend I finally did something that I've been meaning to do since I moved here to Phoenix last August: I visited the Kiva Center located on 5th Avenue in Scottsdale.

The Kiva Center was established in the 1950s by Cherokee fashion designer Lloyd Kiva New as an arts, fashion, and jewelry center. It was a place where high-class travelers could go and purchase exquisite 'souvenirs' from the great Southwest.

The artists who occupied the shops at the Kiva Center were respected, talented individuals, noted for producing quality items right there in the shops themselves. Visitors could see the artists in action, and buy a little something from the artist as evidence of their travels and experiences.

Event | Heard Museum Fashion Show

Ah yes! A fashion event in Phoenix - check it out:

Trendsetting Native American Couture to Highlight Heard Museum Fashion Show

Explore the color, glamor and cutting-edge excitement of Native American couture and jewelry at Native Style: Where Fashion is Heard, the Heard Museum’s fashion show, boutique and luncheon, on Friday, December 2.