Indigenous Peoples’ Day is an opportunity to celebrate living cultures, enduring creativity, and the Indigenous designers whose work has reshaped fashion on their own terms. Across generations, Native designers have transformed ancestral knowledge—beadwork, quillwork, weaving, hide work, regalia-making, jewelry, and visual storytelling—into powerful contemporary design languages. Their work is not simply “inspired by” heritage; it is authored from within communities, carrying cultural specificity, innovation, and responsibility.
Lloyd Kiva New
Lloyd Kiva New (Image credit: santafenewmexico.com)
Lloyd Kiva New (Cherokee) 1916-2002, often called a foundational figure in modern Native fashion, brought handwoven textiles, leatherwork, and sophisticated color to mid-century American fashion while helping establish the Institute of American Indian Arts.
Dorothy Grant
Dorothy Grant built her legacy making Haida Fashion (Image credit: dorothygrant.com)
Dorothy Grant has spent decades translating Haida formline art and the philosophy ofYaangudang—self-respect—into elegant, wearable art.
Jamie Okuma
Jamie Okuma – first Native American inducted into the CFDA 2023. (Image credit: JamieOkuma.com)
Today, designers continue that legacy with exciting new perspectives. Jamie Okuma (Luiseño, Shoshone-Bannock, Wailaki, and Okinawan) merges fine art, beadwork, and sharply modern ready-to-wear. In 2023, she became the first Native American inducted into the CFDA.
Patricia Michaels
Patricia Michaels is a Native American fashion designer who works under the fashion label PM Waterlily. She is a citizen of the Pueblo of Taos. Michaels was the first Native American to appear on the popular fashion design-focused television series, Project Runway. She is known for sculptural, nature-driven garments. (Image credit: PatriciaMichaels.com)
Loren Aragon
ACONAV’s Loren Aragon (Acoma Pueblo) is an award-winning Native American fashion designer and multimedia artist from the Acoma Pueblo in New Mexico. Aragon blends cultural concepts with couture silhouettes.
Jared Yazzie & Lauren Good Day
Designers Jared Yazzie and Lauren Good Day (Image credits: JaredYazzie.com and LaurenGoodDay.com)
Jared Yazzie (Diné) uses streetwear as activism, and Lauren Good Day (Arikara, Hidatsa, Blackfeet, and Plains Cree) brings Plains artistic traditions into contemporary fashion.
Celebrating Indigenous fashion means recognizing Indigenous people as designers, innovators, entrepreneurs, and cultural authorities—past, present, and future. It also means supporting Indigenous-owned labels and respecting the difference between meaningful cultural design and appropriation.
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