JONTAY KHAM’S DESIGNS HIGHLIGHT INDIGENOUS ARTISTRY

At the Southwestern Association for Indian Arts (SWAIA) Fashion Week in Santa Fe earlier this year, Canadian Jontay Kahm showed off his talents in front of his new community in his new home, the place he’s spent his time honing his skills in fashion. 

Kahm is a young Plains Cree fashion designer originally from Saskatchewan, Canada, but he took his passion to the United States, earning a BFA in Studio Arts from the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe in 2023, and then following it up a Masters degree in Fine Arts in Fashion Design and Society from the prestigious Parsons School of Design in New York City in 2025. 

Kahm’s work focuses on the expression of the Plains Cree identity through movement, color, texture, and transformation and serves as both wearable art and contemporary fashion. And it’s already caught the eyes of the industry, scoring him a story in Vogue Magazine and on a cover of Women’s Wair Daily. He was also named the Emerging Talent in Fashion Design by the Canadian Arts and Fashion Awards in Toronto in 2024 and was a finalist for the CFDA Graduate Award, prestigious honours in the Canadian fashion community.

Source: Jontay Kham

Every stitch celebrates his Plains Cree roots: His work pays homage to cultural memory while simultaneously expanding the world of Indigenous design within the scope of contemporary fashion, merging them with effortlessness and showstopping beauty. He weaves Indigenous storytelling into his every garment using dramatic silhouettes, intricate materiality and finds inspiration from nature and ceremonial regalia to ensure his statement, his Plains Cree pride, is clear with every piece that walks down the runway. 

Kahm is currently the Artist-in-Residence at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, and the artistic flair shows up in his work through unexpected shapes, pops of colour and contrasting fabrics. At just 30 years old, Kahm has the capability to transport people into otherworldly realms using his clothing, capturing the essence of human-animal spiritual experiences and incorporating themes of oceanic structures and coral life into the ever-present Indigenous roots and homages in his work. His garments are intended to create a spiritual identity, and its earned him a spot as one of SWAIA’s featured designers. 

Source: Jontay Kham

With the SWAIA Native Fashion Show coming up in August as part of the 104th annual Santa Fe Indian Market, Kahm’s work will take centre stage again, allowing the young designer to showcase 10 looks as one of the six talents to present during the event. His work, however, is going global: musician Tia Wood and actress Lily Gladstone have both stepped out in Kahm pieces, Sarain Fox has worn Jontay Kahm looks during guest judge appearances on Canada’s Drag Race, Laura Ortman wore one of his handcrafted garments to her Carnegie Hall premiere in April, and his work has even graced the CAFA Awards. 

Kahm, truly an emerging talent in the fashion industry, is on a mission to highlight Indigenous storytelling through wearable art, and it seems like his journey is only just beginning.