Designer Profile | Martini Couture

Martini Couture by Dii Martin

This past weekend I attended the Indigenous Image fashion show during the Gathering of Nations events in Albuquerque, NM. Hosted by Brian Vallie and JaNae Collins, the show featured four Native designers: Consuelo Pascual, Dii Martin, Danita Strawberri, and Mildred Carpenter. The models were beautiful and all of the designs were fun and outstanding. I decided to dig up some info on these designers and feature them this week. So here’s your first one - Martini Couture by Dii Martin of the Navajo Nation! The information below is from her myspace page, and all images are my own (shot at the fashion show - many thanks to the models for stopping for me so I could get these good shots!).


A Navajo martini,
mixture of colors,
splish-splash of this,
a shake of that,
and the party... swooned a creative being.
an artistic mofo spanked with talents beyond its measures.
and
an imagination... incestuous with ideas.

"Martini Couture" was created in summer of 2008. It was during one of my moment of laziness that I was slapped with an imagination I couldn't shake. In a split moment, all sorts of designs flashed through my mind. It was an overwhelming but yet exciting awaking. Immediately, I fumbled through my materials and I started to sketch out my future creations. As I trampled through the materials, WOW.... visions of funky and outrageous designs emerged. After that blissful moment, I decided on a dark theme for my first collection.

To brush up on my skills, I thought it was best to start with some ready-to-wear garments. Then towards the end of the year, I decided to throw some sportswear into the mix, the Hoodie Collections. Eventually, my signature designs will be the "Haute Couture" collections.