Los Angeles Times | Top Trends of 2011

This is interesting:

The Los Angeles Times listed their Top 10 fashion trends of 2011, and 'Native Accents' show up as #4 (hey, at least they list us on a sacred number).

They explain: "Fair Isle knits and Native American prints were splashed across everything from 1980s-era cropped tops, to chunky scarves, leggings and sweaters. If you're looking for the source, think back to the fall 2010 D&G runway (a Fair Isle fest as seen in the top right photo), Proenza Schouler's fall 2011 collection inspired by Santa Fe, and the music festivals."

There you have it folks, Native people, tribes, and their cultural heritages are not the source of inspiration for Native accents. Nope, Dolce and Gabbana and Proenza Schouler are. The Los Angeles Times has completely erased us from the mix. Thanks guys.

Ok, now let's compare this 2011 post, with a 1952 snippet from the Los Angeles Times:

Nearly 60 years ago, references to the Native were also 'rampant' in the fashion scene. The difference, however, is that in the 1950s, the Los Angeles Times decided to feature a Native fashion designer (instead of non-Natives who are inspired by 'the Native'). Lloyd Kiva New (Cherokee) was an important fashion designer in the 1950s.

The caption reads, "This is going to be an Indian summer. The growing influence of the Southwest is responsible for the American Indian theme rampant in current sportswear. This two-piece dress by Lloyd Kiva, of Scottsdale, Ariz. (a Cherokee Indian himself), illustrates the trend. It's made of cactus-green and desert-sand wool with hand-woven trim." - Joan Short

So, the difference is that the LA Times featured a Native designer to illustrate the trend back then, but chooses not to today.

I think a top trend of 2011 is straight up Native appropriation.

Event | Heard Museum Fashion Show

Ah yes! A fashion event in Phoenix - check it out:

Trendsetting Native American couture to highlight Heard Museum fashion show

Explore the color, glamor and cutting-edge excitement of Native American couture and jewelry at Native Style: Where Fashion is Heard, the Heard Museum’s fashion show, boutique and luncheon, on Friday, December 2. Native contemporary designs by Orlando Dugi, Penny Singer and Patricia Michaels will ignite the runway, accessorized by stunning jewelry from top designers like Victoria Adams, Marian Denipah, the Gaussoin family, Kenneth Johnson, Steve LaRance, Duane Maktima and Wes Willie. The show will also provide a rare opportunity to view vintage couture by iconic Native American designers Lloyd Kiva New, Kay Bennett and others—all from the collection of Robert Black, proprietor of Scottsdale’s retro-chic boutique Fashion by Robert Black.

“Fashion is a living art form that impacts our daily lives,” commented Heard Museum President Dr. Letitia Chambers. “The Heard is honored to celebrate the contribution that American Indians have made, and continue to make, to the world of fashion. The museum’s collection includes classic pieces by mid-century designers like Lloyd Kiva New and Charles Loloma, but the Heard has also always been dedicated to exhibiting and promoting the work of living contemporary artists. Native Style provides a great opportunity to do so in a way that’s engaging and fun.”

Native Style kicks off at 10:30 a.m. with a reception and pre-sale, followed by a delectable lunch and runway show. Music will be provided by leading Canyon Records recording artists Radmilla Cody, Aaron White and Anthony Wakeman. Fashions and jewelry by many designers represented in the runway show will be available for purchase at a private boutique sale, which then opens to the public at 2 p.m.

“We’re proud to represent some of today’s hottest Native trendsetters in a visually stunning event,” noted Heard Museum Art Director Phil Conley. “This will be a fashion show unlike the rest, and the only place to see the finest in Native style.”

Native Style
Where Fashion is Heard
Friday, Dec. 2
10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Tickets are $45 for Heard Museum members
$50 for non-members

Call Dani Boone at 602.346.8192 to purchase tickets.

The History of Native Fashion at IAIA

I had an awesome time presenting at the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts in Santa Fe today. It was part of a new series called "Private Practice," and my presentation was titled, "The History of Native Fashion at IAIA: Creative Adaptations of Age-Old Practices, Rebellious Fashion Statements, and Powerful Performances of Indianness."

The Institute of American Indian Arts incorporated clothing and textile courses into their curriculum since the school’s inception in 1962. IAIA’s design program, which may count among the most significant fashion curricula in the U.S., has never been fully researched and acknowledged for its valuable contribution to the fashion world. This presentation, which explores the textile and fashion program that emerged at IAIA in Santa Fe in the 1960s, fills this hole in our knowledge. This story begins with IAIA co-founder Lloyd Kiva New, who was a successful fashion designer in Scottsdale in the 1940s and 1950, and follows through with important figures such as Josephine Wapp, Wendy Ponca, Marcus Amerman, Patricia Michaels, and Pilar Agoyo – all of whom play an important role in bridging the well-documented Native clothing design of the late 1800s with current design, and link mainstream fashion with Native couture. An influential institution, IAIA has produced some of the most avant-garde of contemporary Native designers.

(1977 IAIA Traditional Techniques Fashion Show, Photo courtesy of IAIA Archives)

Video | Heard Museum Vintage Fashion Show

The Heard Museum has posted a video of their recent fashion show by Robert Black.

The Heard Museum’s free Third Friday evening series, NU (Native + You), featured a fashion show on September 17, 2010. Guests were treated to a showing of vintage fashions from Robert Black’s boutique (Fashion By Robert Black) paired with traditional and cutting edge jewelry from the Heard Museum Shop.

In part one you will see some dresses made by Lloyd Kiva New in Scottsdale in the 1950s:








(All photos by Ryan Wolf)

Fashion is Spinach

I was going through some of my old materials from my dissertation research, and I came across this short article on fashion written by Lloyd Kiva New as an introduction to the pamphlet for Native Uprising - the successful Native fashion collective based out of Santa Fe in the 1980s and 1990s. New had worked in the fashion industry in the 1940s and 1950s, and championed its inclusion in the curriculum offered at IAIA.

Fashion is Spinach
by Lloyd Kiva New

A few years ago a well known New York designer, decrying the vagaries of fashion, declared: “Fashion is spinach!” And while everyone knows that the world of fashion is indeed strange and capricious, it nonetheless represents one of the most basic and compelling of artistic impulses, from the simplest to the most complex of cultural enclaves – each has engaged in one form or another in the art of personal adornment. It is axiomatic: Who one is, is most visibly proclaimed by what one wears.

American Indians are no exception. As far back as 4 to 5 thousand years ago some Indians are know to have made and worn beads, gorgets, earrings, necklaces, and pendants; even before they had invented pottery, ceremonial equipment, the sculpting of animal and human effigies or demonstrated any serious development in the pictoral arts. More recent historic times reveal the wearing of painted robes, woven blankets, quilled, beaded, and embroidered dresses, moccasins, hair ornaments, elaborate feather headdresses and the ubiquitous spread of both secular and religious tribal costumes of great beauty and distinction.

(Marcus Amerman, DNA Dress)

Video | 1950s 'Tribal Trend': The Squaw Dress

I came across this archival video on the 'Making Owls Cool Since 1986' blog site. It's a video of Arizona fashion in the 1950s (in particular, the squaw dress). This time period was also when Cherokee designer Lloyd Kiva New was a celebrated couturier. The video is really interesting to me for 2 main reasons:

First, it reminds me of the world in which Lloyd Kiva New lived - it was segregated and stratified, and to me this makes his successes and accomplishments even more notable. Secondly, it depicts a 1950s version of the tribal trend. Currently, the Indian in fashion is a major fad (check out the Native Appropriations blog) - and I think that a comparative analysis of the 1950s squaw dress and the 2010 hipster headdress would be a fantastic study. Maybe I'll do that this summer... hmm.. anyways, here's the video:




The video features the squaw dress, and my dissertation advisor, Nancy Parezo, has conducted research on this fashion phenomenon. You can read her article on the Squaw dress here.

Parezo explains:
The Squaw Dress, a categorization label for several types of one- and two-piece dresses, was a regional style in the American Southwest in the late 1940s and became a national dress trend in the 1950s. Its defining feature, a full, tiered skirt, came in three shapes: (1) a slightly gathered skirt based on Navajo dress; (2) a "broomstick" or pleated skirt based on Navajo and Mexican attire; and (3) a fully gathered, three-tiered skirt based on contemporary Western Apache Camp Dresses or Navajo attire. ... (4) Squaw Dresses were extremely popular because of their comfort and regional indigenous associations. They represented both idealized femininity and Americanness because of their Native American origins. This is one reason for the label; American designers, coming into their own in the ready-to-wear and casual clothing markets, were determined to distinguish themselves from European designers. What better way to do this than to use names associated with and design ideas borrowed from or inspired by the First Americans?

Cool Owl also found this 1955 Ocala Star Banner article, which highlights the 'squaw' dresses created by Lloyd Kiva New.

When the squaw dress trend took off, designers in the Northeast US began making their own versions, but, in this article, New, along with the other designers, claimed to be the ones who made the real versions. He explained, “Out here, we know how to make them. They are a modern expression of an ancient primitive art. Imitations always look phony.”

At one point, New employed fifteen Native American assistants to help him create his purses and fashion designs - providing economic opportunities and opening new doors for Native artists. Later, he went on to co-found the Institute of American Indian Arts - the premiere Native arts institution.

It's a really interesting newspaper clipping so definitely check it out!

Here's some images of Lloyd Kiva New and his dresses:

Designer Profile | Lloyd Kiva New

(Image from Native Peoples Magazine article)

Cherokee designer Lloyd Kiva New (1916-2002) played an important role in revolutionizing Native customary clothing design in the mid-1900s. He worked in textile arts, leatherwork, and fashion design with his own boutique (opened in Dec 1945) and center (opened in 1955), and he was active in the development of Scottsdale as an arts center. New's handbags and garments were collaborations with other notable Native artists. For example, for one shirt (pictured below), the horse design was painted by Andrew Van Tsinajinnie, then it was silkscreened onto fabric by Manfred Susunkewa. New designed the shirt, and Charles Loloma made the unique silver buttons.

New became the first Native American to show at an international fashion show in 1951 with his participation in the Atlantic City International Fashion Show. In 1952 he showed there again, and was featured in the Los Angeles Times (below). In 1957, Miss Arizona Lynn Freyse wore a Kiva creation at the Miss America Pageant in Atlantic City.

New’s business prospered when opportunities for Native people were limited and bounded. Upper-class Anglo women wore his garments made with Native American designs in a time when Native cultures were being smothered out and dissolved into American cities through relocation and termination government policies. He expressed his ideas as to the importance of Native cultures (especially the importance of Native contributions to American society and identity) while emceeing fashion shows by resort pools, being interviewed for national articles, hosting art or cultural events, or consulting on Indian art educational programs.

Throughout his career as a fashion and accessories designer, New incorporated Native design concepts, including symbols, materials, silhouettes, cuts, and color palettes, from various tribes, sometimes combining them, to create items that would work within Anglo American paradigms of gender, class, and ethnicity. New acknowledged social limitations and cultural expectations and worked within these frameworks to create new possibilities for Native people.

New went on to co-found the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe in 1962.

(Note: This is an excerpt from my dissertation and is copyrighted material)

(Lloyd Kiva New, silkscreening. Image from IAIA Archives.)

(Lloyd Kiva New boutique in Scottsdale, ca. 1950s. Image from Heard Museum exhibit Mid-century Modern: Native American Art in Scottsdale.)

(Lloyd Kiva New featured in the Los Angeles Times, 1952.)

(Lloyd Kiva New blue sleeveless shirt, ca. 1950s. Private collection. Image my own.)

(Lloyd Kiva New sleeveless mini-dress with blue water design, ca. 1950s. Private collection. Image my own.)

("It's a Kiva bag". Private collection. Image my own.)

(Lloyd Kiva New shirt with desert-inspired colors, ca. 1950s. Private collection. Image my own.)

(Lloyd Kiva New purse with Charles Loloma silver detailing, ca. 1950s. Image from online auction site.)

Read more about New at Native Peoples, or at The New York Times.

Designer Profile | Lloyd Kiva New: The Father of Contemporary Native Fashion

Lloyd Kiva New (Cherokee) is well-known for his work in the advancement of Indian art education, but few people know that after he taught Indian art courses at the Phoenix Indian School in Arizona, and before he helped co-found the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New was a successful fashion designer.

In December of 1945, New opened his first boutique in Scottsdale, selling accessories and handbags inspired by Navajo medicine pouches. These reinterpreted and secularized bags were the genesis of the Lloyd Kiva leatherworks company.

Within ten years, New expanded to include dresses, coats, and shirts for both men and women. Kiva designs were featured in national publications, such as Harper’s Bazaar, Holiday Magazine, The New Yorker, and Town and Country, and were sold through stores like Nieman-Marcus in Dallas, Lord and Taylor in New York, and Newsetter’s in Denver.

New firmly believed that Native people were an integral aspect of the life and identity of the United States. In the post-war environment of American national pride, New advocated that there wasn’t much more American than the Native American, and encouraged people to express this on their clothing.

Lloyd Kiva New played an important role in revolutionizing Native American, and American, customary clothing design in the mid-1900s. His business prospered when opportunities for Native individuals were limited and bounded, and he acknowledged social limitations and cultural expectations and worked within these frameworks to create new possibilities for Native people.

(Lloyd Kiva Boutique in Scottsdale)

(Lloyd Kiva New silkscreening his own textiles)

(Lloyd Kiva original shirt, image my own)