This week, New York City, the ancestral home of the Lenape peoples, was host to the city’s first Indigenous New York Fashion Week. The runway shows, organized by Relative Arts, a Native-owned community and exhibition space, were among the hardest tickets to score at Fashion Week.
“The INYFW experience is meant to challenge stereotypes, celebrate cultural brilliance, and show that Indigenous voices belong at the center of global conversations about fashion, technology, and art,” fashion designer and Relative Arts cofounder Korina Emmerich (Puyallup) told Elle.
Photo: Erik Stein
On Friday night, in New York’s lower east side, Deerlady, a renowned indigenous indie rock band based in New York, played a sold out show for fashionistas. Mali Obomsawin, one of the two band members, is from the Abenaki First Nation and co-founded the first Wabanaki land trust, where she now serves as executive director.
Runway shows, featuring nearly two dozen indigenous designers from across the Americas, took place Saturday and Sunday. INYFW culminated with a wrap party thrown by Decolonizing Wealth Project, which for five years has offered one of the few spaces that has celebrated Indigenous talent during New York Fashion Week.
“This year’s event is especially important as we celebrate Relative Arts and the inaugural Indigenous New York Fashion Week,” said DWP’s Edgar Villanueva. “For years, we’ve worked to bring together indigenous designers, artists, creators, and models with major players in the fashion industry, and for years, we were the only dedicated space during NYFW that celebrated Indigenous talent.
“To see how this gathering has grown,” he adds, “affirms so much of our work and is truly demonstrative of how powerful Native folks are when we stand behind one another and lift each other up.”
