How To Respectfully Buy And Wear Indigenous Fashion

Rock Indigenous fashion with respect and appreciation with these tips from Indigenous fashion designers and icons.

Want to support Native designers but not sure where to start? Here, our experts offer their top tips to ensure you’re engaging in cultural appreciation, not appropriation.

1. Do your homework before buying.

These days, it’s the consumer’s responsibility to research companies to better understand their practices and pledges. “First and foremost, make sure you’re purchasing from an Indigenous designer, not a brand that’s ‘Indigenous inspired,’” says Lesley Hampton. “For example, look for what community a designer is from. Beyond that, know that if Indigenous designers are making work available for purchase, we want everyone to interact with it.”

Kiowa Gordon (left) and Jessica Matten (left) pose in garments by Lesley Hampton at the 2024 SWAIA Native Fashion Week.

2. Know the difference between regalia and ready-to-wear.

When it comes to appropriation, Peshawn Bread has a quippy tip: “If it looks like it belongs in a museum, you probably shouldn’t wear it out to the club.” In contrast, Bread believes contemporary Native fashion can be worn and appreciated by everyone.

Peshawn Bread walks the runway after presenting her collection at the inaugural 2024 SWAIA Native Fashion Week.

3. Resist the urge to negotiate pricing.

Though it’s often for sale at markets, Indigenous couture isn’t just handicraft to be bartered. “You would never go into a Louis Vuitton store and offer what you want for a handbag,” Sarain Fox says. “We need to stop thinking about Indigenous makers that way, too.”

Sarain Fox poses in Vividus by Tierra Alysia at the 2024 SWAIA Native Fashion Week.

4. When in doubt, don’t wear it.

“If you’re worried about how the public will perceive you wearing a certain item, you probably shouldn’t wear it,” Bread says. “But if it’s something you bought from a Native designer that you’re really excited about—you love the color, you love the form—I definitely say wear it.”

Peshawn Bread’s House of Sutai collection was featured at the 2024 SWAIA Native Fashion Week.

5. Help spread the good word.

Word-of-mouth is still an important marketing tool for Indigenous artists. “The way you would point out a Cartier bracelet, point out the best beaders we have in the world, like [Apsaalooké artist] Elias Jade Not Afraid,” Fox says. “The way you wear Indigenous fashion is with pride and with a story.”

Sarain Fox wows on the runway while wearing Ayimach Horizons at the 2024 SWAIA Native Fashion Week.

From our November/December 2024 issue.

PHOTOGRAPHY: Tira Howard