NAFW12 | Cree Nisga'a Boots

Much to my happiness, I got to see the cool boots of Cree Nisga'a Clothing made by Linda Lavallee (of the Montreal Lake Cree Nation), her husband Patrick Stewart (of the Nisga'a in northern British Columbia) and their son Cory Lavallee at the National Aboriginal Fashion Week. Specializing in beautifully decorated footwear, their boots are an adaptation of historic tall moccasins and mukluks from the cool northern subarctic region.

Each pair of boots is handcrafted using leathers and decorated using either painting or cutwork. They specialize in creating boots tailored to your feet - they can trace your foot to get the initial boot impression to whip you up a custom-made pair.

NAFW12 | Tansi Clothing

Another cool designer, Tansi Clothing showed off their latest designs for men and women at the National Aboriginal Fashion Week held two weeks ago in Saskatchewan.

Tansi Clothing was founded in 2005 by Tim Lewis who was born and raised in a small Cree community located two-and-a half hours northwest of Saskatoon (that is WAY up there!). Lewis comes from a big family and maintains connections to his home community, but bases his company out of Saskatoon.

The word 'tansi' means hello in the Cree language, and Lewis' clothing company promotes the Cree language through fashion. But you don't have to be Cree to wear these cool designs. You don't even have to be Native American to wear Tansi Clothing.

NAFW12 | Tracey George Heese

Cree fashion designer Tracey George Heese showed her clothing line, Timeless Shadows, during the recent National Aboriginal Fashion Week events held in Regina on June 21, 2012. Her collection included dresses, tops, and menswear.

Heese has over 30 years of sewing experience under her belt, and over the years she has created garments for professionals, dignitaries, powwow dancers, cowboys, First Nations Royalty, and even Her Royal Highness Princess Ann.

In a recent interview, Heese remarked, “A lot of the clothing that I sell is based in Aboriginal appreciation; but you don’t have to be Aboriginal to buy it. It’s contemporary, but it draws on the history and culture of our First Nations people."

NAFW12 | Danita Strawberry

Danita Strawberry is one of my favorite designers. I've written about her before here, here, and here.

She stated, “Native people of long ago made garments for all kinds of occasions as well as to dress themselves according to status. This is part of what I'm trying to achieve by creating clothes for people Native and non-Native by designing a professional, classy look with a touch of Native themes to them.” Her garments draw on classic dress styles with clean silhouettes, and are accented with subtle Native design motifs.

Click below to see more images of her designs at the National Aboriginal Fashion Week as well as a video of her finale.

NAFW12 | Disa Tootoosis

Continuing with my coverage of the National Aboriginal Fashion Week, here are some more images from Disa Tootoosis.

Tootoosis combines contemporary mainstream fashion trends with powwow chic, all executed using some pretty awesome fabric choices. Her garments always bring a smile to my face.

Click below to see more images and scroll to the bottom to see a video of her finale walk (and remember to click the images to see them full-screen).

NAFW12 | Review: Looking Forward

Last Thursday I had the great opportunity to attend the first ever National Aboriginal Fashion Week held in Regina. For a more positive review, click here. If you're not into constructive criticism, this post isn't for you.

But if you're interested in hosting a Native fashion event in the future, or being a part of one, and want some tips, keep on reading. Hopefully this is semi-constructive (that's the hope!).

NAFW12 | Review: Bringing First Nations Fashion to the Scene

This year marked an important historical event - the launching of the first ever National Aboriginal Fashion Week. Held in Regina, the two-day event kicked off on Thursday, June 21 (which was also, fittingly, National Aboriginal Day in Canada).

This is the first of two posts that reviews the event. This post is a positive one (you'll have to wait until tomorrow to read my more critical review).

Video | National Aboriginal Fashion Week

Check out this video of the National Aboriginal Fashion Week that was held this past Thursday and Friday in Regina! I got to check it out as well, and will be posting my two-part review in the coming days, so stay tuned!