NEW ERA OF FASHION: INDIGENOUS DESIGNERS TAKE CENTER STAGE AT NATIVE FASHION WEEK SANTA FE

By: Hillary LeBlanc

The current western world has embraced Native and Indigenous fashion by taking a genuine interest to learn, appreciate and celebrate the cultural heritage and its designers. As colonized society has evolved in their recognition, there has still been a void for representation at fashion weeks around the world.

Amber-Dawn Bear Robe, a Native Art historian and curator from Siksika Nation (Calgary, Alberta), has been active in contemporary Native Art for decades. After graduate studies in Tucson, Arizona, she returned to Canada to work at Urban Shaman Contemporary Aboriginal Arts. Later, while living in Santa Fe, she deepened her work with Native designers and artists exploring unconventional materials, textiles, and performance art—a field more prominent in Canada than in the U.S. “When I moved to Santa Fe, my focus quickly transitioned into Indigenous fashion arts and working with Native designers,” says Bear Robe.

Bear Robe was inspired by the incredible talent and work of Native designers, which led her to produce a fashion show for the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts in Santa Fe. The show proved to be successful for 10 participating designers who were seeking more of the same opportunities for exposure. This encouraged her to curate and produce Indigenous fashion shows annually in Santa Fe and beyond. “The demand of designers wanting to be shown, outgrew just one show a year. There were so many Indigenous designers looking for representation that I needed a larger platform.”

Bear Robe advocates on behalf of the lack of support for Indigenous communities in the US, claiming that Indigenous fashion weeks in Canada have been able to do much more in less time. For over a decade Bear Robe worked with SWAIA Native Fashion and launched her Fashion Week with that company last year, which was the first Native fashion week in the US.

The positive feedback from year one of programming a fashion week allowed her to grow this initiative into something that would offer opportunities on a year-round basis. This led her to launch Native Fashion Week Santa Fe in the Spring of 2025 separate from SWAIA.

@amberdawngold founder of @nativefashionweeksantefe - Source: Tira Howard Photography

Bear Robe sees this growth as an opportunity for representation and change. While living in Santa Fe, is a ‘Native bubble’, Indigenous people are not even provided their own population section when voting, something she feels is ”a stark difference compared to other countries like Canada.”

Central to this movement is the reclamation of Indigenous culture, which has historically experienced appropriation, misrepresentation and marginalization within the fashion industry. Today, Native creatives are reclaiming their narratives, using fashion not only as a powerful form of storytelling but also as a catalyst for social change.

Native Fashion Week Santa Fe has sparked conversations and hope. There were thirty participating designers showcasing collections infused with cultural significance whether visible or not. From couture to streetwear, Native designers showed up to re-introduce their identity through fashion.

Source: Dark Listed Photographer

Designer Nonamey tells us, “I wanted to participate in Native Fashion Week because I believe in the power of fashion as both a tool of resistance and a vessel for storytelling.” Her collection, Threaded Lineage, honors her family and the ongoing fight for Indigenous visibility, sovereignty, and survival. For many participants the fashion week wasn’t just a showcase, it was more like a reclamation. “To see so many Indigenous designers, models, and artists in one space, uplifting each other and weaving together our truths, was electrifying,” Nonamey says.

Bear Robe explains that Native Fashion Week and her work highlighting Indigenous culture helps dismantle many misconceptions which still include fears of appropriation and that Native fashion is only buckskin, beads and leather. Native fashion doesn't have to have some key signature mark for it to be Native fashion. She claims that if it's made by a Native designer, it's Native fashion. “There really are a lot of misconceptions, and a lot of unknowns like people wanting to support but not knowing how.” Bear Robe adds that having Native designers with larger roles in the industry of fashion from fashion houses, to photography, to buying would support the industry and answer the unknowns potential allies have. 

Though still riding the high from this fashion week, Bear Robe is already excited for the next Native Fashion Week Santa Fe. She describes this year as magical and exciting. Bear Robe shares that the event featured distinguished guests like Vogue journalist Christian Allaire, Former U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, actor Daryl Dixon, Dua Lipa’s PR company Service 95 and more. The show also had Indigenous performers, designs coming to the runway on skateboards and bikes, and was live streamed through a partnership with Kiswe. 

For those who have attended or are engaging with Indigenous fashion, Bear Robe hopes they will learn more about the culture and that they will engage, participate or perhaps consider sponsorship or purchasing goods from Indigenous designers. “This is just the beginning. This is just the starting point. I want people to walk away wanting more.”