CHRISTIAN J ALLAIRE’S BOOK ‘FROM REZ TO RUNWAY’ EXPLORES A PATH TO VOGUE FROM FIRST NATION ROOTS
By: Hillary LeBlanc
While fashion campaigns may now feature a broader spectrum of races, body types and gender expressions, representation often remains surface-level and often feel ‘tokenized’ or trend-driven rather than systemic and sustained. The momentum for change in the fashion industry is real—but without continued accountability and structural reform, progress is at the risk of becoming performative rather than transformative.
Condé Nast and Vogue have notably worked hard to allow more diverse perspectives and voices to be heard on their platform. One writer, hailing from an Indigenous community in Canada has brought Indigenous perspectives to Vogue’s readership and is sharing how he got there.
Christian Allaire is the Senior Fashion and Style Writer at Vogue where he covers celebrity style, red carpet fashion, trends, emerging designers and other in-depth features. He has Ojibwe heritage, coming from Nipissing First Nation in Canada. As a child, he did not anticipate moving to New York City and being on the Vogue Masthead was only a dream.
Source: Christian Allaire
Allaire is weaving his personal identity into his storytelling at Vogue, giving him access to educates a global audience. He attributes his early interest in fashion to attending summer powwows. “My sister is a jingle dress dancer and some of my earliest memories around clothes were seeing my grandmother & aunties working on pieces for her regalia. I saw how much thought & intention they put into their designs and I think it made me think about fashion on a deeper level.” He adds that he always enjoyed the bright colors but his favorite part was seeing the regalia in movement. As a teenager, he became transfixed by the high-fashion designs and runway shows that he saw on Fashion Television and in the pages of Vogue.
Allaire may not have come from fashion roots, but he did show up and show out at family gatherings. He wore eclectic outfits to barbecues, rocking gothic statement looks and made sure any place was his own personal runway.
After earning his Bachelor of Journalism degree from Toronto Metropolitan University in 2014, he moved to New York to begin his career as a fashion editor at Footwear News. There, he met an editor who eventually brought him over to Vogue, where he had always dreamed of working. Allaire went from a production assistant and worked his way to becoming a fashion writer. He has been with Vogue since 2017, covering red carpet fashion, celebrity trends, emerging designers, and more. He also specializes in coverage of Indigenous fashion across North America.
Allaire wrote his first book on fashion in 2021, The Power of Style: How Fashion and Beauty Are Being Used to Reclaim Cultures. In it, Allaire shares an understanding of how clothes can be used as power, resistance and championing change. Each chapter boldly shares Allaire’s thoughts on the power behind cosplay, make up, hijabs, hair and connects these means of expression to fashion, history, culture, politics and social justice.
Through his work at Vogue and in fashion he realized that the work was not always glamorous. He struggled with finding his place, he found it difficult to balance ambition with his culture’s place in the realm of fashion. This led to writing From the Rez to the Runway: Forging My Path in Fashion earlier this year.
For Allaire, he is still often the only Native voice at the table with shockingly very few Indigenous folks working in the mainstream fashion space. He shares that there is a certain sense of pressure and responsibility that comes with that, especially when he is advocating to cover topics and issues within our community. His main barrier has been to convince others how important it is to include Indigenous voices, talents and perspectives into stories in an organic way, which is crucial to authentic storytelling and relationship building.
Source: Christian Allaire
His 2025 publication is a memoir, which may seem shocking when you learn Allaire is only 30. He became convinced to tell his story as he realized how relatable it was and the importance of imparting to his community the power they have to be whoever they want to be. He wanted to write a book that Indigenous youth could read with the realization that their wildest dreams can come true. Allaire adds that he wanted to be honest and raw about the journey it took to get him to where he is today, reminding readers that if he can do it so can anyone. His book has received praise from Oscar nominated actor Lily Gladstone, actor Devery Jacobs and New York Times Best selling author Kelly Cutrone. He held book launches at Marc Jacobs’ iconic store Book Marc in New York with Anna Wintour in attendance.
Being Indigenous, Allaire has wanted to see and share his community’s stories with the world. Earlier in his career, a lot of the stories he pitched would not get greenlit. “Especially in the fashion realm, Native designs were often deemed not as worthy or high-fashion to cover. But, gladly, that perspective has shifted—and today, I find there is a widespread interest in learning about Indigenous art.” He adds that people seem to finally understand and realize how beautiful and meaningful it is to have everything done by a community rooted in storytelling and traditional craft work.
As a journalist and someone who is Indigenous, Allaire hopes that mainstream spaces in fashion, film, music, politics continue to make space for Indigenous perspectives. He points out how often Indigenous people are left out of the main conversation despite the community being at such a creative place where Native folks are thriving in all sorts of arenas. Allaire sees the changing tides and is hopeful and wishes for Indigenous creatives to continue making their art and innovating as it inspires the whole community and drives everyone to be better and to break boundaries.