Cher Thomas | Designer Profile and Interview

I was very honored with the opportunity to catch up with O'odham and Yuman fashion designer Cher Thomas, owner of Cher Thomas Designs, about her most recent work. I first became aware of Cher's clothing designs while I was going to grad school in Arizona. She is a member of the Gila River Indian Community and I had seen her work in local shows. As a third generation seamstress, the act of making garments - both traditional and fashion-forward - runs in her family.

She was recently featured in Native Max Magazine, and in June she was spotlighted in the Brave Wings Charity Fashion Show held in Scottsdale. Here, she debuted her Spring 2013 collection, Desert Ballerina.

Click below to read my interview with her about this fabulous show.

Idyllwild Fashion Show | Native Couture in California

I am pleased to announce that I have been working with the great folks at Idyllwild Arts Academy on producing a high end fashion show that will serve as the finale event for their Native American Arts Festival Week.

The week-long festival held in Idyllwild, California, is designed to enhance and add depth to the academy's hands-on arts workshops, and includes performances, a lecture series, art exhibits, and informal discussions with artists, tribal elders and scholars.

Video | BBBxGON Fashion Flash Glow Party!

In March, Beyond Buckskin was approached by Emergence Productions to help put on a "Fashion Flash" segment during their Stage 49 DJ Glow Dance Party during the Gathering of Nations powwow in Albuquerque, April 2013. The show included BBB-affiliated designers and models, and featured designs by The Soft Museum, Kevin Duncan (Apache/Mandan/Hidatsa/Arikara), Sun Rose Iron Shell (Sicangu/Oglala Lakota), and JT Willie (Navajo).

Top 12 in Native Fashion for 2012

2012 was an amazing year for Native American-made fashion.

We saw designers taking home big awards, collaborations developed, tons of fashion shows all over the continent showcased designers from throughout Indian Country, some important new projects were launched, and Native pride was felt and seen through the items we wore on various significant events and rallies.

Now let's begin the Beyond Buckskin list for the Top 12 in Native Fashion for 2012.

BBB x P4

I want to introduce you guys to a totally cool new collective called Presence 4.0.

They are a group of three Navajo women (Nanibaa Beck, Jaclyn Roessel, and Chelsea Chee) who recently launched a style blog that showcases the ingenuity and creativity that Native American people utilize in styling themselves.

This website documents Native participation in fashion by featuring individuals and their expressive style on the streets (and dirt roads!).

Beyond Buckskin Street Style Fashion Show

Last weekend, the awesome folks at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor helped me to launch and host the first ever Beyond Buckskin Street Style Fashion Show (click here to read more about the weekend).

The models for the show were all students (a great combo of beautiful faces from all backgrounds) and the garments for the event came from the Beyond Buckskin Boutique as well as the Beyond Buckskin personal collection of Native-made fashion. The students remixed the items to make them their own and rocked it out on the runway. The talented photographer Brita Brookes was in attendance and did an amazing job of capturing the fun and creative energy of the night. It was definitely an inspiring experience.

Cody High Style 2012 | Tammy Beauvais

Every September, people from all over head to Cody, Wyoming for the annual Rendezvous Royale - a boot scootin' week full of high end western art and culture. The Cody High Style fashion show has become one of the week's highlights, with 'western chic' fashion designers from throughout the US and Canada.

One designer was Tammy Beauvais. Based out of Kahnawake, Beauvais creates sophisticated garments in natural hues that reflect her Mohawk roots. References to wampum appear in some items, while turtle, feather, and floral motifs decorate others.

Cody High Style 2012 | Bruno Henry

Every September, people from all over head to Cody, Wyoming for the annual Rendezvous Royale - a boot scootin' full week of high end western art and culture.

The Cody High Style fashion show has become one of the week's highlights, with fashion designers who define 'western chic' coming in from throughout the US and Canada.

One of these designers was Bruno Henry. Originally from Six Nations of the Grand River in Ontario, Henry creates garments from supple leather and hide in black, white, and all variations of tan.

BB Facebook | Best of August

I post a lot of fashion news on the Beyond Buckskin Facebook Fan Page. It's a great way to share info quickly without having to prep and write an entire post on it.

However, if I only post it to Facebook, well, Facebook has a tendency to kind of 'swallow' good images, links to articles or videos in the sense that, in general, we don't really want to go through all the scrolling to dig it up again.

So I'm going to start doing a 'Best of' post for each month where I highlight some of the coolest images, the most interesting articles, the biggest misappropriators, and the neatest videos. So, now that we're a week into September, it's safe to look back at August and pick out some good ones, so, fashionistas, here you go:

Fashion HEAT | Consuelo Pascual

I got the great opportunity to interview Navajo/Mayan fashion designer Consuelo Pascual about her newest designs that debuted at the Fashion HEAT show held in Santa Fe during Indian Market.

Organized by Native American and First Nations art scholar and curator Amber-Dawn Bear Robe, this free event was one of the most-talked about Native-focused fashion shows of the past year and featured some of the most prominent Native American fashion designers producing today.

In the interview below, Pascual talks to BB about the ins and outs of fashion design: from the structural to the ephemeral, fashion is an exciting art form, and is one that is gaining a better footing in the American Indian art world.

Santa Fe Indian Market 2012 Fashion Events

The Santa Fe Indian Market kicks off in less than two weeks! There are tons of events and openings going on - for example, while the official Market doesn't start until Saturday, Market-related events begin the week prior.

I fly in on Wednesday, just in time to hit up the Gallery openings on Thursday and Friday. Every year I post a list of fashion events, mostly to keep myself organized, but also to show how fashion is an important component. Here's the list of cool events that you can catch me at!:

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 | 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!).

Virgil Ortiz's Translator

Virgil Ortiz never ceases to amaze. His projects and ideas are always developing and pushing Native American pottery and fashion to new places.

His latest projects reimagine the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, catapulting the historic event hundreds of years into the future and underlining the importance of the past by making it relevant today and projecting it into the future.

GON12 | Sharmayne Edgewater Finale

Clothing designed by Navajo fashion designer Sharmayne Edgewater at the Central Visionaries fashion show held during the annual Gathering of Nations Powwow in Albuquerque, NM, April 2012.

GON12 | Disa Tootoosis Finale

Clothing designed by Cree fashion designer Disa Tootoosis at the Central Visionaries fashion show held during the annual Gathering of Nations Powwow in Albuquerque, NM, April 2012.

GON12 | Disa Tootoosis Dress

Dress designed by Cree fashion designer Disa Tootoosis, worn by a model during the Central Visionaries fashion show held during the Gathering of Nations powwow in Albuquerque. Stay tuned... more videos will be uploaded, just as soon as I figure out how to do it! (yay video!)

Designer Profile | Shayne Watson

Navajo designer Shayne Watson is inspired by the teachings of his grandmother, a Navajo seamstress. At only the age of 25, Watson's career is off to a great start. His award-winning outfits are created with traditional styles in mind (think: Navajo velvet and broomstick skirts), but with a contemporary twist, and he often uses unconventional color schemes and patterns - so you get to see blouses in lime green and dresses in tangerine peach.

For Watson, fashion isn't just an outlet for his creativity; it's a way for him to explore his cultural heritage. Watson said he has been designing clothes for several years in the way his grandmother taught him.

House of Darylene

Navajo fashion designer Darylene Martin founded Martini Couture in the summer of 2008. This first exploration into fashion design was inspired by the idea of a Navajo martini - a party-inspired concoction of dresses, shirts and accessories that had a distinct hip, upscale classy mixture of colors and silhouettes.

A smart designer, Martin is expanding her business to a house of design that consists of her first label, Martini Couture, along with two new branches: Summer Rain and Savage Beauty. The Summer Rain collection is inspired by her Native heritage and the elegance of the Navajo concept of 'Walking in Beauty'. The Savage Beauty line is a bold and sexy (and sometimes punk) interpretation of an urban Native woman.

Designer Profile | Genevieve Hardy

Genevieve J. Hardy is a Navajo traditional wool dress weaver from Fort Defiance, Arizona. Hardy comes from a family of weavers: her grandparents were weavers and her mother Mary is also a weaver.

Growing up surrounded by weaving, Hardy put herself in front of the loom when she was a young teenager. In high school, she took courses in sewing, drawing and clothing-making and decided to use this knowledge to perfect her skills in making outfits.

As an adult, Hardy combined her weaving with sewing and made clothing for her children and relatives. Hardy also created traditional Navajo rug dresses for her daughters' graduations.