Indigenous fashion show dazzles

Jason Picard-Binet, owner of moccasins brand Bastien Canada, is sick and tired of seeing the cultural appropriation of Indigenous designs in the fashion industry. It’s a big part of why he stopped waiting for space to be created for Indigenous designers and carved out his own, launching the Indigenous Collective at this year’s Montreal Fashion Week.

“It’s a way to fight that cultural appropriation, which is a huge challenge in our business,” Picard-Binet said, adding that he’s seen countless non-Indigenous brands marketing knock-off moccasins as “authentic.”

“In the future, I’d like to have this collective be something that big retailers can work with and know that if they’re working with them, they’re 100 percent sure that it’s Indigenous owned and operated.”

The collective, also known as Collectif Autochtone, brought together seven Indigenous brands at their first fashion show at the Montreal Convention Centre in Montreal last Friday: Bastien Canada, MINI TIPI, Atikuss, Matsheshu Creations, Mikuniss Collection, She Holds The Sky Designs, and Jolène Robichaud Fashion Designs.

She Holds The Sky Designs, run by Karoniénhawe Diabo out of Kahnawake, launched their collection honouring missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls (MMIWG) at the show, and Diabo also helped organize hair and makeup for all of the models.

She had six weeks to pull together pieces for the show and focused on darker red colours and imagery in her pieces. She was most proud of a red floor-length gown worn by model Vanessa Martin, which was worn with a small bag accented with strawberry and sky dome details.

“It was really beautiful to see it all mesh together and to complement each other. When you’re making a collection, you have a vision of how it should look, and thankfully it all came together really nicely,” she said. “The models really did it justice and made the collection what it is.”

It was Diabo’s first time being a part of Montreal Fashion Week, and she said she left feeling optimistic about the future for Indigenous designers in the industry.

“I’m very impressed with how welcoming the response was from people in the Montreal Fashion Week organization. There was a lot of support, and I saw how many people came to watch our show,” she said. “It was really impressive, and I’m really happy with the direction that it’s going in.”

Martin was one of six models that walked for Diabo, alongside Karahkwinetha Sage Goodleaf, Graysen Moses, Wahatehonatsatshenri Delormier, Kanatahawe Thunderblanket, and Kya Hemlock walked the runway as models.

Hemlock, who started modelling only recently, also walked for Jolène Robichaud Fashion Designs and said it felt great to walk the runway surrounded by so many Onkwehón:we designers, models, and supporters.

“It felt really good, I felt a lot more confident this time,” she said. “It was really nice seeing people I saw in my first show and having so many people from the community there to help.”

She said that she particularly enjoyed getting ready with her fellow models.

“Doing our hair, our makeup, everything like that was great. Everyone made me feel really comfortable and at home,” she said.

Goodleaf, who modelled for Mikuniss Collection and Atikuss as well as Diabo, said that it’s important Indigenous people carve out their space in the fashion world. She said she felt pride while walking the runway.

“Fashion has often been a medium to express culture and identity, but it has also been a tool of colonization. For centuries, Indigenous Peoples have been robbed of their cultural identity through the appropriation and commodification of their traditional clothing,” she said.

“In recent years, there has been a growing movement towards decolonizing fashion and recognizing the important contributions of Indigenous designers. This is why walking for Indigenous designers is always empowering.”

Throughout the evening, guests were entertained by performances from Kahnawake’s own Singing Wind Deer, who sang during quiet moments when the models were getting changed.

She sang Fawn Woods’ famous song Remember Me and some traditional songs. 

“It felt so good to share my songs. I was very nervous and anxious because I saw a lot of faces from home, and powwow dancers, and I know these songs, so the pressure was on me hoping I didn’t screw up,” she said. “But I did it and everyone loved it, and I got a lot of great feedback on my singing.

At one point in the show, there was a slight unexpected delay, and she jumped in to keep the audience interested.

“The models weren’t ready and the emcee was stalling, so I jumped up on stage and said ‘Hey, do you guys want me to sing another song?’ and the little crowd went wild,” Deer said

“It was truly an honour and the experience of a lifetime.”

This year’s director, Kahnawa’kehró:non Joanne Iewisenhawi Jacobs, said she’s already looking forward to what’s in the future as the collective grows.

“It was a breathtaking moment in time that is surely going to elevate the presence of First Nations designers on the global fashion scene,” she said of the evening.

She said that seeing the artists collaborate - some artists combined their jewelery with others’ garments, for instance - made her feel emotional as she watched everyone come together.

“There was joy in seeing so many different nations under one roof and seeing their excitement and the sheer joy and pride they had in presenting their work together,” she said. “It was a culmination of everyone’s work being pulled together and it was just phenomenal.”

Organizers hope that by next year, the collective could be turned into a non-profit, giving space for the membership to grow and for more Indigenous designers to get involved.

This article was originally published in print on September 27 in issue 33.39 of The Eastern Door

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