Santa Fe Indian Market 2011 Fashion Events

Ok ya'll! It's August! Well, it's been August for over a week now, but I'm just now catching on. And since it's August, that means Beyond Buckskin will be featuring information about the upcoming Santa Fe Indian Market, to be held August 20-21, 2011.

Now, if you know anything about Indian Market, you'll know that the fun stuff isn't just on Saturday and Sunday, it is also on the days preceding the event.

I'm very excited about this year, because there will be fashion-related events on Thursday, Friday, and Sunday (What's that? No Saturday? Well, I'll find some 'fashionable' Indians to spotlight on this blog as a 'Saturday Night Special' of sorts - yea?! **NOTE: I found a Saturday fashion event! See the addition below).

Here's the list of events that you can catch me at!:

WHAT: Opulance Fashion Reception
WHEN: Thursday, August 18, from 5-7pm
WHERE: Museum of Contemporary Native Arts
DEETS: A Fashion event not to be missed. The Tsosie-Gaussoin designers, Connie Tsosie Gaussoin, David Gaussoin, and Wayne Nez Gaussoin collaborate with Orlando Dugi, for a special Pre-NDN market premiere. Experience a rare collection of work, that is an exception to the standards. Enjoy live Models, Art, Music, Food, n Fun. Free event.

WHAT: The Wheelwright Museum's Annual Art for Wear Event
WHEN: Friday, August 19, from 10:30am–12:30pm
WHERE: The Wheelwright Museum
DEETS: The museum hasn't posted an official press release yet, but typically, the Art for Wear showcase hosts some of the premier Native fashion designers. In the past, these designers have included Patricia Michaels, Pilar Agoyo, Penny Singer, Teri Greeves, Margaret Roach Wheeler, and TahNibaa Naat'aanii. The casual atmosphere makes for a great opportunity to meet and talk with the designers (and try on some of the gear!). What's also cool is that the museum's store, the Case Trading Post has some dope Loloma jewelry (pictured above).

WHAT: Fashion Show, Fashion Party, Indian Market 2011
WHEN: Friday, August 19, starting at 7:30pm
WHERE: El Farol, 808 Canyon Road
DEETS: Three Navajo fashion designers get together to host a fashion event during Indian Market. Designers include Martini Couture, Walter Barney, and Consuelo Pascual. Gary Blackchild and guests performing. Sound and Lighting by The Sound Gallery. Model Management Group, ROMERO ENT.

WHAT: Northwest Coast Traditional/Contemporary Fashion Review
WHEN: Saturday, August 20, at 2pm
WHERE: The Sealaska Pavilion in Cathedral Park across from MoCNA
DEETS: The Native nonprofit Sealaska Heritage Institute (SHI) and its founder Sealaska Corporation are planning Native art demonstrations, art sales, dance-and-cultural performances and a high fashion show to spotlight the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian cultures of Southeast Alaska. Hoonah’s Louise Kadinger will showcase Tlingit fur and skin sewing and Sitka’s Nicholas Galanin will feature Tlingit silver works. Contemporary work from Haida designer Dorothy Grant from Vancouver will be featured in a fashion show as well as Kadinger’s sea otter wear. Besides performing six dances, the St. Elias troupe dancers will also showcase their traditional regalia.

WHAT: SWAIA Indian Market Native American Clothing Contest
WHEN: Sunday, August 21, from 9am-12pm.
WHERE: Santa Fe Plaza
DEETS: Indian Market’s Clothing Contest is a visually inspiring competition with over 125 contestants and 18 design categories. Traditional categories will be judged by seven distinguished Native American judges from various tribes as well as a celebrity judge for the Contemporary categories. (And I'll be volunteering!)

If more events pop up, I'll be sure to update this list. Cheerio!

Santa Fe Community College Fashion Show, Spring 2011

Last Friday, the design students at the Santa Fe Community College hosted a fashion show featuring the work of over a dozen students.

Here's a backstage picture of a top and vest made by Consuelo Pascual (Navajo).



(Pascual's line up)

Read more about the event here.

To read more about Pascual, click here, and to read more about the fashion students at the Santa Fe Community College, click here.

Back to Fashion School with Santa Fe's Top Student Designers

The latest issue of Southwest Flair magazine features Santa Fe Community College Fashion Design on the cover, and includes designs by Lynne Kudus, Rachael Maestas and Consuelo Pascual (Navajo/Maya).

I had the great pleasure of attending the fashion shoot, which was shot by photographer Jake Goldbogen at various locations throughout the Santa Fe Community College campus - including a classroom, library, and the planetarium. Click here to read the article about the student designers: Back to Fashion School with Santa Fe's Top Student Designers.

The September issue is now online and is their biggest issue to date - with many articles on fashion, travel, the arts, yoga, cuisine and more.

Pascual also has a spankin' new website.

Props to Southwest Flair for consistently featuring Native American fashion desginers. Check out their back issues online here.

Fashion Shoot!

Ah- fashion shoots!

Last Friday I had the great opportunity to see the behind the scenes action of a fashion photo shoot.

My friend and designer Consuelo Pascual (along with her colleagues Lynne Kudus and Rachael Maestas) were having their latest designs shot by photographer Jake Goldbogen, and she invited me to tag along.

So much goes into a shoot - the concept, the clothing, hairstyles, extreme make-up, the setting, creative poses, props, perfect lighting, emergency safety pins, tables to jump on to get the right angle, dozens of shoes, and lots of hairspray. The people in this industry work hard - physically, mentally - they work long hours creating a unique form of art that combines function and beauty.

I helped out where I could (note: I discovered that I'm not good at making paper airplanes), but I am a bump-it queen.

The models, Galina, Candace, Angela, and Krista, were troopers. Changing clothing multiple times, having their faces covered with make-up, black eyeliner, and silver eye shadow, getting their hair curled, then straightened, then curled again, and holding so many different poses (many of which required some uncomfortable body contorting). But throughout, they were fun, suggesting ideas, and calling their bosses to stay with us longer so that the designers could get all the shots they needed. It was also with these girls that I had my first "fashion show behind-the-scenes experience." And, I must say, you can't be modest if you're going into this business. There's little time to change, so clothes are flying everywhere, and nudity happens. Much goes into the prep work for a show, and chaos behind the stage during the show is also a staple - yet the girls come out, composed and focused, delivering us an image of the garments in beautiful motion.

It was great fun to see the designers, photographer, and models working together - an awesome collaborative effort. The group expects to have the images by May 12, and from what I could see, Jake was capturing some awesome shots. Here are some of my photos from Lynne's classroom shoot:





And here are some images from Consuelo's planetarium shoot:




It was too dark to capture photos from my camera, so I snapped some shots outside of the planetarium after Jake was done-

Designer Profile | Consuelo Pascual

Consuelo Pascual

Consuelo Pascual (Navajo) is a 2005 graduate from New Mexico State University, where she majored in Fashion Merchandising and minored in Marketing and Management. She is currently pursuing a degree in Fashion Design from the Santa Fe Community College.

With her interests in fashion design, music, art, and comic books, Pascual’s influences draw from varying sources that include science fiction flicks as well popular television shows such as Project Runway, Sex and the City, and Ugly Betty. The visually stimulating work of Tim Burton and the late Alexander McQueen find their way into her aesthetic choices, and her musical interests in punk, rock, industrial, trance, 1980s new wave, alternative, and Indie music also influence her selections in fashion design. Though her instructors have advised against it, Pascual incorporates unconventional materials (like vinyl), and subculture designs (like skulls), into high-end couture - producing sophisticated dresses with a distinctive edge.

Recently featured in the March Santa Fe Art of Fashion show (read my review of the show here), Pascual's latest designs are chic futuristic dresses - influenced by the blackness of outer space, the glimmer of stars, and the architecture of a fluid space ship.

She also plays with fabric texture, and her latest pieces feature variations of pleats - the intricate detailing of which is time consuming yet stunning. The designs formed by pleating has Pascual creating varying silhouettes, and this, combined with her space cadet aesthetic, creates an exciting new path for Native fashion.

For her recent showing in Albuquerque, Pascual created two new dresses and fun accessories: armbands in silver metal or black fringe, and turquoise drop earrings - enhancing her looks and design vision.




(images above are my own photos taken at the Indigenous Image fashion show in Albuquerque during GON, images below are from the preparation of the Art of Fashion show in Santa Fe last month)

Santa Fe's Emerging Designers

Last night I had the great pleasure of attending a fashion show featuring the chic designs of seven Santa Fe Community College fashion students.

The event, Art of Fashion, is a monthly show hosted by Stephen Cuomo and Buzz Networking. It is designed to encourage networking among designers, models, photographers, and other creative individuals in Santa Fe and Albuquerque, but also to bring fashion to local nightlife.

I previously attended the January Art of Fashion show, which featured three designers, one of whom was Walter Barney (it was an exciting showing by Barney, as I have grown to expect from this designer). I also attended the February event, and I must say this latest one was the best event so far. No doubt this was partly due to Cuomo working out the kinks of this new project of his, but it was also due to the talent and drive of the seven designers. They advertised the event widely, and it was well-attended - my guesstimate is that over 140 people were in attendance. At one point, when I stepped out to use the restroom 30 minutes into the show, I overheard the greeters turn people away. They were at max capacity.

Being a scholar and researcher, I've learned the value of ethnographic (participant observation) research - a.k.a. the 'fine art of hanging out.' And listening to peoples' reactions and responses to the show are some of my favorite things to do at these types of events. The responses were overwhelmingly positive. People loved the dresses, the creativity, how each designer brought her own design aesthetic to the runway. They were blown away by the fact that these were 'students.' But, after this show, I don't see them as students, I see them as emerging designers - ones who will carry Santa Fe's reputation as a fashion town into the future.


First off, the young (17 years old!) Bianca Garcia showed her four looks "Inspired by Kimono." I have spoken frequently about 'appropriation' and so my eyes are always open, looking, analyzing. Garcia's line was undoubtedly inspired by the Japanese robe. However, she quite wonderfully dissected it, showing us the parts: featuring the characteristic loose sleeves for one dress, the bundle in the back for another.

(My apologies - it took me a few rounds to get the right setting for my camera and I missed some great outfits in the process)


Next was Jessica Rimmer's "Hotel NM" collection of four looks - my favorites being the cute tailored jackets she produced with fantastic collars. Of note was a jacket and skirt outfit made from New Mexico sky blue fabric patched with material that featured a horse and Native design motif. It's like she turned a 'Greetings from New Mexico' postcard into a trendy ensemble - this outfit deserves a photo-shoot out on Route 66.



Another young designer, Paola Palacios presented her sexy "PcarolinePC" line. Her four looks included a red and black halter dress and a denim and black dress (it had three belts, much to my delight). All were short, but Palacios was exceptionally creative with this little bit of fabric and space, and the couple next to me adored her dresses.



Rachael Maestas' "Granny Floral Chic" holds a special place in my heart - just last month I was visiting one of my best friends in New York and she epitomizes 'Grandma Chic.' Oh Rachael how truly wonderful it was to see Granny chic on the runway. An adorable romper with a faint floral design, along with a sweetheart neckline strapless crisp white dress (yes with large floral pattern) - so feminine, so cute, and dying to be worn in a park, at the horse races, or out to brunch.



Consuelo Pascual's collection of five looks, aptly titled "Pleating Story" (the girl loves to pleat!), was introduced with the Shiny Toy Guns' song Major Tom playing in the background. It was so very appropriate - have you seen the video? When I think of Pascual's designs, I think of the sleek aesthetics of outer space. A subtle skull pattern on one dress adds a keen edge to her refined work. Working with a palette of mostly black, silver, and grey, her work is meticulously constructed, creating such fantastic silhouettes with all those wonderful pleats.




Next up was Lynne Kudus, the leader of this pack. An amazing stylist, Kudus' collection, "Punk Romanticism," included ten fully styled looks. And punk romanticism it was - with a loose white ripped dress, a one-shouldered black and denim dress, and wonderfully placed zipper accents everywhere. Kudus is clearly aware of the latest trends and incorporates them into her artistic approach to fashion.





The grand finale came with Shelly Lang's "The Wild Garden Collection Spring '10" (and a magnificent bridal gown!). These loose flowing dresses in soft summery colors were inspired by the plant life of Northern New Mexico. She explained, "The closer I looked the more each bush displayed unending inspiration of color, texture and silhouette." Lang combined raw edges, earthy tones, hand-dyed silk, and asymmetrical silhouettes to produce heavenly frocks fit for a princess.