Santa Fe – The evening fashion show on May 9, 2025, hosted by the Southwestern Association for Indian Arts (SWAIA) at the Santa Fe Community Convention Center, revealed a deeper shift into the world of Native models performing expressive “catwalking” on the runway. Featuring new wearable art from six Native designers, the night offered an immersion into the creative approaches that fashion designers now take for their runway events. Each designer gave audiences a production filled with a wide variety of nuanced Indigenous character and style.
Dancing Storm Designs
The evening began with a couple stepping together for Dancing Storm Designs, the project of Livia Manywounds (Tsuu T’ina/Blackfoot/Nakoda). This set a tone of balance. Their ensembles brought the values and sophistication of tribal regalia materials into the fashion arena.
Stitched by April
Stitched by April, April Allen (Inuk), featured a throat singer alongside the models on the runway. This added a layer of depth and transportation via another set of activated senses. A distinctive aesthetic emerged from this combination of voice and wearable art.
Dene Couture
Dene Couture (Tishna Marlowe of the Łutsël K’é Dene First Nation) merged a gothic sensibility with embroidered floral patterns. Feelings of elegance and deep emotion soared on the runway in subtle catwalks by the models. An ethos of introspection took hold on the stage.
Sage Mountainflower
Sage Mountainflower (Ohkay Owingeh/Taos/Diné) turned the audience to an aura of reflectiveness in both the patterns and textures of her art. An infusion of light and landscape coupled with an art of theater characterized her latest fashions. In Mountainflower’s creations, the models exuded comfort and confidence with touches of each of their personalities.
Randi Nelson Designs
Randi Nelson Designs (St’uxwtéws Secwépemc) brought forth a feeling of flirtation. Movement in these designs offered a sense of playfulness. A retro aesthetic emerged in some visual connections to 1970s nightclub–inspired couture.
Lauren Good Day
The looks designed by Lauren Good Day (Arikara/Hidatsa/Blackfeet/Plains Cree) employed the central element of the parasol. She meshed this constant, as an allusion to water or protection from the summer sun, with tribal beadwork patterns and illustrated designs printed on fabric. Lauren Good Day’s designs emphasized the longevity, versatility, and resilience of the moccasin, paired with her elegant dresses featuring bold, geometric patterns from the Northern Plains.
Lasting Impressions
Overall, the evening offered a well-rounded glimpse into the current state of Native fashion. With every glance and step, the runway performers reminded viewers of the pride they exuded while being draped in layered elements of beauty.
Michelle J. Lanteri, PhD, is committed to reciprocal and accountable collaborations through a local-to-global approach and active listening. Her curatorial and research practices focus on Native American arts and cultures of the Southwest, with an emphasis on Pueblo visual arts. Lanteri is the Museum Head Curator and Head of the Arts & Humanities Department at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center and a regular contributor to First American Art Magazine.