Activators embrace an everyday, personal style that engages with today’s trends and politics, while Provocateurs depart from conventional fashion to make works that are conceptually driven and experimental. Pathbreakers are groundbreaking designers, while Revisitors refresh, renew and expand on tradition. Native Fashion Now examines five themes-Pathbreakers, Revisitors, Activators, Provocateurs, and Motivators-reflecting how designers respond to ideas and trends in the world of Native fashion. From one of Patricia Michaels’ (Taos Pueblo) recent finale ensembles from the reality television series Project Runway to Jamie Okuma’s (Luiseño/Shoshone-Bannock) dramatically beaded Christian Louboutin boots and innovative works made from mylar, vinyl and stainless steel, Native Fashion Now underscores Native concepts of dress and beauty, which are inextricably bound to identity and tradition in a rapidly changing world. Nearly 100 works from 71 designers, spanning the past half-century, explore the vitality of Native fashion designers and artists, from pioneering Native style-makers to today’s maverick designers making their mark in today’s world of fashion.įeaturing contemporary garments, accessories and footwear incorporating a variety of genres and materials, these designers traverse cross-cultural boundaries between creative expression and cultural foundations. Organized by the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Mass., Native Fashion Now opens at the Portland Art Museum on June 4, 2016.įrom vibrant street clothing to exquisite haute couture, this exhibition celebrates the visual range, creative expression and political nuance of Native American fashion. The Portland Art Museum is pleased to present Native Fashion Now, the first large-scale traveling exhibition of contemporary Native American fashion, celebrating indigenous designers from across the United States and Canada, from the 1950s to today.
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