At Sante Fe's Native American Fashion Week, It's 'Not Just About Style, It's About Presence.'

Forbes

2 days ago

Relative Arts NYC runway
Tira Howard
"Native people are still here. We always have been. But too often, this country acts like we're not. That erasure doesn't just happen in textbooks. It happens on runways, in museums, in the media and in fashion houses," says Amber Dawn, founder of Native Fashion Week.
Though Indigenous practices, cultural values, and art have long been marginalized and forcibly distanced from the Western mainstream, the emergence of an Indigenous Fashion Week asserts its' presence, and keeps the culture very much alive.
In Santa Fe, over the course of four days filled with fashion, panels, and parties, Native Fashion Week opened at the Santa Fe Railyard, a clever homage to Native peoples' complicated history with the railroad systems built throughout the 19th century. These tracks remain symbolic of colonization, territorial expansion, environmental devastation, and cultural erasure. During the event's opening, 'Runway on the Rails,' designers Nonamey and Ayimach Horizons previewed snippets of their collections aboard the Sky Railway during a two-hour ride into the desert. From this moment, it became clear: the clothes showcased throughout the week would be less about craftsmanship or spectacle, and more about storytelling and history.
Runways to Rils
Tira Howard
"Native Fashion Week is not just about style. It's about presence. About pushing back on invisibility with creativity, excellence, and joy," says Amber Dawn. She continues, "Unlike the common theme in the US, which are featuring Indigenous designers in museums and making us out to exclusively be of times past, we're building a platform for the future. The exposure of modern Indigenous design is so important to this work." For Dawn, a feeling of erasure, even from runways, has happened for Indigenous culture. "Native Fashion Week Santa Fe is a reclamation of space. A space where Indigenous designers lead. And it's happening here in Santa Fe, a city that already holds a reputation for art, culture and storytelling," she says.
"This is about bringing new eyes and new energy to Santa Fe. Fashion editors, buyers, stylists, celebrities, photographers, major industry figures from places like New York, LA, and beyond."
One of the key figures and new eyes paying attention was CFDA CEO Steven Kolb. 'Coming to Native American Fashion Week has given me the chance to step into the community and get a sense of Indigenous culture and Native design,' Kolb said. While the CFDA currently has no plans to provide funding for Santa Fe's Native Fashion Week, Kolb emphasized, 'We can bring knowledge, advice, connections, and awareness, we want to create visibility for this within the greater fashion world.'
Native American Fashion Week
Tira Howard
Outside of Warehouse 21, a large event space in Santa Fe, Korina Emmerich wrapped up her runway show, which featured large tassels, tribal prints, and earthy tones. 'This collection was called Seeds, and was based on the concept of 'they tried to bury us, but they didn't know we were seeds.'' She continues, 'I wanted to focus on reinvigoration and reclamation of Indigenous culture, I used orange a lot to bring attention to Orange Shirt Day and boarding schools. Every Native person knows someone who went to those boarding schools, so I wanted to bring attention to that.'
Possibly the most memorable piece was a closing statement of rebellion: a dress made out of the Palestinian flag. 'I think it's important that we keep paying attention to what's happening in Palestine, in Gaza, as they keep blocking out the news. It's an act of genocide, and it's something we [Native people] have also gone through.'
Native American DFashion Week
Tira Howard
Emmerich, who says she was 'working on her collection until the very last minute,' draws inspiration from her heritage: the Palouse people of Washington state. She credits her father, an art teacher, as her biggest inspiration, encouraging her to embrace both her Indigenous identity and creativity. 'The first dress I made was my jingle dress for my powwow regalia, and I think a lot about putting stories into the clothing. For me, it's about storytelling more than it is about commerce.'
'Growing up, we didn't see any Native fashion designers besides Dorothy Grant, so how did you know it's a possibility if you don't see it? But the recognition is phenomenal,' she says. 'We're so lucky that we have room for everyone.'
Native American Fashion Week
Tira Howard
On the second day of Fashion Week, in the same event space, Nonamey, who originally premiered on the Skyrails train, debuted a larger collection aimed at telling a more fully realized story. 'The name of this collection is Threaded Lineage, and it's the story of my family,' he says. 'It's an Indigenous story—my story. It begins with the Ancestor Dress, a story about my grandmother and a relative of mine who was shot by police.'
Midway through the show, Nonamey presented a blinding orange, structured jacket emblazoned with the words 'DON'T SHOOT' across the back. This piece, like others in the collection, serves as a kind of "connective tissue"—memories and histories that have either directly affected him or live on through his lineage.
Nonamey, who is of the Anishinaabe people of Northern Wisconsin, tells a deeply personal story of his family's forced relocation, his time in the foster care system, and the loss of identity that came with it. That journey intensified after learning he had lost both his mother and grandmother. 'It was this loss I didn't know what to do with, so I started applying it to my art,' he says.
Originally trained in sculpture, Nonamey ultimately discovered that the language of clothing spoke to him more. Throughout the collection, he presented pieces that followed traditional 18th-century European dress silhouettes, layered with tribal prints, a visual merging of histories and heritages that reflect both his identity and the complex, often painful relationship with Native ethnicity in a colonized world. "I am a result of colonial action, I am an attempt at cultural genocide, but by reconnecting I stepped further away from an edge and I feel that by creating art and sharing it, i'm decolonizing this industry."
Nonamey for Native American Fashion Week
Tira Howard
That spirit carried throughout the week. While Indigenous traditional wear is far from a monolith, with many of the designers representing diverse tribes and regions across the Americas, the shared goal of representing their heritage across time and geography remained central. Acts of rebellion, fine tailoring, streetwear, tribal prints, traditional tassels and suedes, moccasins, and sustainable fashion approaches like fur and multi-use materials were all present on the runway.
'The industry needs to know more and invest in the original designers of America. There is not one way to define Native fashion arts; the diversity is beautiful and complex,' says Amber Dawn. 'We had over 25 nations represented among the 30 Indigenous designers this season at Native Fashion Week Santa Fe. Within each of those nations, there are specific designs, colors, and intentional symbolism. Our designers blend their personal fashion with these traditional motifs, creating a modern interpretation of Indigenous fashion that embodies such a personal journey for everyone.'
Nonamey NAFW
Tira Howard
As the week came to a close, the audience was left with a powerful message from the creator of the programming: 'From the streetwear motifs to the use of furs, which are all sustainable and sourced from Indigenous farmers in Canada, the meaning behind what our designers do, and the incredible attention to detail and purpose, must be understood through context as we enter a global forum. ' She continues, 'That's where you begin to see the vast range of performances down the runway, from Apache Skateboards to Shoshoni's Nar Rew Ekar, which went viral on social media, to the protest staged by Alex from Scrd Thndr. There was so much beauty and so many different expressions of fashion to witness. That background information is essential as we scale our exposure. We can't wait to continue expanding next season with more symposia and auxiliary events to keep sharing our designers' stories and work.'