Fashionably late: After two lean years, Indigenous designers in spotlight
Aug. 19—details
—Indigenous fashion
—Friday, Aug. 19, through Sunday, Aug. 21
—Santa Fe Community Convention Center, 201 W. Marcy St., and Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, 108 Cathedral Place
—Ticket prices vary, check for availability; 888-922-4242, swaia.org/2022-tickets
This year's Indigenous fashion programming has expanded to two shows to mark the Santa Fe Indian Market's 100th anniversary — a welcome exhale for organizers after two years of restrictions and tightened belts.
Fifteen Native designers and more than 100 models will be part of those shows this year. That's a far cry from last year, when the show was held virtually and included four designers; or the year before, when only one designer was featured, says fashion show producer Amber-Dawn Bear Robe, who's curating all of the weekend's fashion events.
This year's edition begins with the opening of the Art of Indigenous Fashion exhibition, which is organized by the Institute of American Indian Arts, from 5 to 6 p.m. Friday, Aug. 19, at the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts. The exhibition continues through Jan. 8.
The "Shiny Drop" Fashion Show and live art auction, a key fundraiser for the Southwestern Association for Indian Arts, runs from 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 20. Seven designers are scheduled to attend, and an after-party follows from 9 to 10:30 p.m. From 3 to 4 p.m. Sunday, eight designers will present their collections as part of the Indigenous Fashion Show finale, also put on by SWAIA. Following Sunday's main show is an Indigenous trunk show from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. for fashion show ticket holders who want to buy items from designers. The weekend event also features an installation by Cochiti Pueblo visual artist Virgil Ortiz.
The event's two-year break from normalcy bolstered demand this year, says Bear Robe, noting that she received more than 270 applications from potential models throughout the U.S. and Canada, up from about 150 in a typical year. Each of this year's two main shows will feature about 100 models, Bear Robe says, with some participating in both.
This year's designers are Jason Baerg, Pamela Baker, Catherine Blackburn, Orlando Dugi, Korina Emmerich, Sho Sho Esquiro, Lauren Good Day, Dorothy Grant, Lesley Hampton, Ursala Hudson, Melanie LeBlanc, Patricia Michaels, Jamie Okuma, Skawennati, and Yolonda Skelton. Michaels and Dugi live in Santa Fe; Dugi was the only artist featured in the scaled-back 2020 event.
Michaels, 55, grew up in Santa Fe and says she appreciates being involved in the Indian Market, an event she attended many times as a child. Technological evolution is among the many changes she has seen.
"Now it's so bad with social media, and everybody having to, like, hashtag this and hashtag that," she says. "You've gotta make a little TikTok video" to get attention.
Michaels also recalls fewer tribes being represented at the event in her youth, as well as far less bustle. But she doesn't pine for simpler times.
"The exciting part is [the market] just continues to grow in a direction that is positive," she says.
Bear Robe says she began preparing for this year's fashion events in January.
"People have no understanding of the planning that goes on for SWAIA Indian Market," she says. "In terms of the fashion show, it's only me [involved in planning] until I get closer to market time. Then I get some interns. That's what I have this year. But really, just the model management alone is a full-time job."
If just one model is forced to pull out of the show, there's a domino effect, Bear Robe says. But there's another, less visible element of the work: mannequin management.
"People would be shocked at how much work goes into mannequin treatment, but also getting mannequins in the first place," she says. "It's very time-consuming."
Mannequins for the event are donated. Bear Robe estimates that they're valued at $3,000 or more each. Painting and shipping costs also were donated. Bear Robe declined to identify the donor.
Mannequins tend to be in similar sizes and shapes — which doesn't suit the fashion show's needs.
"When you get a mannequin, it's totally emaciated and not a real human," Bear Robe says. "It doesn't represent most real human figures. And the designs that I'm including in the exhibition are made for real people."
Bear Robe acknowledges that after months of planning, when the Indigenous fashion programming finally begins, she'll likely feel a bit queasy.
"I'm running on adrenaline and running on just the mission to get this done, but also the passion to get this done," she says. "It's because it's not just the fashion show. There's all this other stuff that's happening during Indian Market weekend and week. So just the energy in the city is really high."
