Changing the Face: Celebrated Female Fashion Designers and Textiles Artists
The fifth and final show of the collaboration between Legends Santa Fe and Southwestern Association for Indian Arts (SWAIA) featured celebrated female fashion designers and textile artists including Patricia Michaels (Taos Pueblo).
Michaels was the unanimous 2010 winner of the Santa Fe Indian Market's Textiles Classification. Competing against traditional Native textiles, her winning piece signals the ever-expanding possibilities of the ancient art of adornment.
Michaels explained, “Every garment that I make, the fabric and the cut of the garment tells a story. And that’s how I feel Native people can give back to the rest of the world… to share their stories with people in the outside world. Some people do it through pottery, or painting, or jewelry. For me, I just thought, well, somebody can wear it. They can feel [these stories] on their skin.”
(All images below are of Patricia Michaels' fashion designs shot during the Legends/SWAIA event, and are courtesy of Jessica R. Metcalfe and Keith Grosbeck, with special thanks to Michaels and her models):
To read more about Patricia Michaels, check out my designer profile on her, and visit her website.
Also, if you're in the neighborhood, be sure to check out the upcoming Legends show featuring the jewelry of Colin Coonsis (Zuni/Navajo), which opens on November 26, 2010:
