Fashion show spotlights Indigenous designers at Haskell

Indigenous talent, resilience and resistance were on display Saturday during Haskell’s first fashion show, “Indigenous Couture Goes Vogue.”

Esmarie Cariaga, Isanti Dakota, organized the fashion show as part of the internship requirement for the Indigenous and American Indian Studies program at Haskell Indian Nations University.

Cariaga said that the word “couture” means sourcing materials and sewing garments yourself.

“Indigenous people have always been doing couture,” she said.

She wanted to bring Indigenous designers to Haskell and uplift the community with the fashion show.

Two Haskell students who were supposed to model in the show were not there, and their absence was felt. Cole Brings Plenty was found dead earlier this month, and Corrin Lamere suffered a severe stroke last weekend. 

“We thought it was important to keep coming together as a community,” said Ryia Lebeau,  Thituwan Lakota and Diné.

Lebeau is a Haskell student and designer. She attended Brings Plenty’s memorial service in her hometown of Eagle Butte, South Dakota just a couple of days before the show.

“We must show up every day for something greater and larger than ourselves,” she said. “That’s what this show means to me.”

“We thought it was important to keep coming together as community,” Lebeau said.

Patricia Michaels, Taos Pueblo, was a contestant on season 11 of Project Runway. Her uncle attended Haskell and “he always talked so beautifully about Haskell.”

She took the opportunity to visit Haskell for the fashion show because she “was curious to know what this school was about.”

Michaels finds inspiration in nature for her handpainted designs. Of a particularly flowing garment, she said “that’s a 7-yard painting.”

She reminds people to be humble when they work with Native people.

“Every person comes with thousands of years of their Ancestors’ prayers,” she said. “So when you’re in the presence of a Native person, be grateful.”

The other designers of the first fashion show at Haskell included Claudia Turner-Little Axe, Alyssa Bracket, Snowy Pretends Eagle, Julia White Bull, Kylee Nahquaddy, Sager Mountain Flower, Jenna Makes Good, Ty Begay and Diamond Williams.

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Molly Adams (she/her), photojournalist and news operations coordinator for The Lawrence Times, can be reached at molly (at) lawrencekstimes (dot) com. Check out more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.

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