The wildly popular Native American Heritage Month event’s organizers claim that a Native fashion show that attracted a standing-room-only audience to American Indian Auditorium at Montana State’s campus was the ideal setting for the celebration of cultural tradition through the perspective of modern art.
Riley Werk, a freshman studying in English education who assisted in planning the Nov. 13 event, said, “It was definitely a positive place to be.” “Even in Indian Country, not many people have witnessed a runway show like this.”
Werk is a member of the American Indian/Alaska Native Student Achievement Services’ three-person cultural outreach team at MSU. Werk, Watson Whitford, a fellow student employee, and La’Trell Hendrickson, a cultural engagement expert at MSU’s department of Native American Studies, came up with the concept.
“The Native clothing sector has evolved into another avenue for showcasing Native art, so we started discussing a fashion program that includes seminars to make ribbon blouses and ribbon skirts,” Hendrickson explained.
The crew got in touch with Jacquard Stops Black Eagle of Brocade Designs and Angela Howie of Choke Cherry Creek Designs, two renowned Indigenous designers who are also alumni of MSU and belong to the Crow Tribe. Werk started looking for models after they promised to supply the show’s apparel. Whitford, a first-year plant biology major, started extending invitations to Native American designers from various tribes in and around Montana. A number of exhibitors selling goods with Indigenous designs and thirty-five models, most of whom were students, represented each of the region’s Native American nations.
Before walking the catwalk on the course of the night of the show, each model struck a few silhouette poses beneath a white sheet, in front of an eclectic and receptive audience. According to Werk, a lot of them found that the experience increased their confidence and gave them new perspectives on what the fashion industry had to offer.
The fashion sector piques the curiosity of many pupils. They were able to take pictures as a result, and such photos can be included in a portfolio, according to Werk. “The designers welcomed the questions that students had about entrepreneurship. It’s allowing doors to open.
Whitford claimed to have gained a great deal of knowledge about negotiating and collaborating with others to determine how to meet their demands and inspire apprehensive models to show confidence on the runway.
