Fashion
They call it a “Mountain Mover”. The founder of Vancouver Indigenous Fashion Week revolutionizes the catwalk
In Vancouver, Canada, First Nations designers and models took to the runway to celebrate their style ranging from coastal northwest tribal designs to urban streetwear. At the helm is Joleen Mitton, who foundedVancouver Indigenous Fashion Week And Modeling of supernaturals a fully indigenous model agency. Mitton is Cree from Sawridge First Nation and has spent years bringing Indigenous representation to the fashion industry.
The most recent edition of Indigenous Fashion Week took place in late November, and Mitton and her team were all hands on deck behind the scenes. Every evening, a few hours before the show started, it was a whirlwind of activity. Designers and models rehearsed their shows and makeup artists worked their magic behind the scenes.
In a large room filled with mirrors and bright lights, rows of hairstylists created intricate braids on long-haired indigenous models. In the locker room hallways, designers combed racks of outfits, tailoring designs with unique gowns and ornate pearl earrings.
In designerLesley Hamptons dressing room, Mitton tried on a long dress in champagne-colored tulle, decorated with sequins and white feathers. Hampton, an Indigenous designer of Anishinaabe origin from Toronto, created searches for major events, including the Emmy Awards.
When Mitton took the stage, the crowd applauded. But success didn't come easy. Despite losing loved ones, health issues and financial struggles, Mitton has hosted Indigenous Fashion Week four times since 2017. Now 40, Mitton got her start in modeling at the age 15, when she was discovered by a talent scout. in his hometown of Vancouver.
I was waiting in line for a free smoothie at the local fair, she said. There was a scout somewhere in the market who tapped me on the shoulder and asked if he could take a photo of me.
Mitton attended a conference for potential models and received dozens of callbacks from agents around the world. She said her indigenous features gave her a look that made her popular in the Asian market.
My first job was going to Taipei in Taiwan, and that was kind of the start of my career. I got into a lot of glamor and beauty [and] commercial work, which was really exciting for me, she said. I was just living a really different lifestyle than what I was used to. It was definitely a revelation to a different life I never thought I would dream of.
Mitton modeled for major brands across Asia for eight years, but ultimately decided to leave it all behind and return home to Vancouver.
I was just tired of being told I was too thin, too tall, or not pale enough. This can really make you question your identity and who you are. And I really felt that at that age, she explained. So I decided to come back and started working within my community, with Indigenous families and foster Indigenous children. That’s where I kind of found my purpose again.
Mitton took on a combination of jobs and volunteering to help Aboriginal families. She mentored Indigenous youth in programs in inner-city Vancouver, founded an all-Indigenous basketball team, and taught youth about their culture. Mitton became like an older sister or aunt to young Indigenous women who grew up in foster care and created a close-knit family environment for them. One day she organized an Indigenous fashion show and several of her mentees asked to join them.
Mitton said: “Because you're wearing clothes that represent who you are, I think it really brings out their self-esteem and their identity.
Some of the young people Mitton mentored years ago now proudly walk the catwalks in vibrant Indigenous fashions. Alicia Hanton, a model of Cree origin, was separated from her mother at the age of 9 and placed in foster care.
I met Joleen in 2015 because I was in [foster] care at the time, Hanton said. I just walked into her arms, and she took me under her wing and put me in one of my first shows.
She is now part of the Mittons Supernaturals modeling agency.
Hanton said: “It definitely increased my self-confidence, times a million because I grew up as a very shy person, very shy, but I also didn't grow up with a lot of community or culture . It really opened my eyes to Indigenous fashion.
Through this Fashion Week, First Nations people reclaim their culture by presenting their own creations. The event opened with Evening Red Dresshonoring murdered and missing Indigenous women, girls, two-spirit and LGBTQ+ people in Canada and around the world.
From 2015 to 2020, Indigenous people in Canada were victims of homicide six times more often than non-Indigenous people. Canada's national survey of high number of indigenous women who disappeared or were killed described it as genocide.
Native designers created red designs to draw attention to this devastating epidemic. Being able to present it in a way that honors it but is also respectful and powerful, that's really important, Mitton said.
Additionally, for over 60 years, Canada prohibited Indigenous peoples from wearing their traditional regalia during cultural and spiritual ceremonies, as well as from gathering to powwow Or potlatches ceremonial practices common to First Nations tribes in northwest Canada. Mitton says the government did this to take power away from them.
But we can't kill our spirits, she said. You can see it in our clothes; you can see it in our songs now, which were awake and alive, and going nowhere.
People in the fashion industry are starting to realize this, and Vancouver Indigenous Fashion Week has influenced the Indigenous Fashion Week in Toronto, Canada. Models from the Mittons Supernaturals agency also showed in New York and Santa Fe.
Joanna Fox, the editor-in-chief of Elle Magazines Canada edition, said: “There are a lot of younger, more up-and-coming, lesser-known designers that you get to see at Vancouver Indigenous Fashion Week. We're just going to start seeing more and more indigenous designers on red carpets.
Fox says Indigenous designers are adding something new to the fashion world. The clothes are beautiful. It is well done. It's more consciously made in the sense that it's more sustainable, she said.
Maynard Johnny Jr., an indigenous artist and cultural advisor for fashion week, said he was inspired by what Mitton was able to accomplish.
She is a mountain mover. She always has visions and is dedicated to making them come true, he said. A matriarch is someone who works for the people, who keeps the culture alive. In my opinion, she is well on her way to becoming a matriarch.
During the show, Mitton stood alongside models as they lined up behind the runway, cheering them on and smiling. Alicia Hanton said being part of this event was very healing for her.
One time we were backstage, and we were all [in our] hair and makeup, and we have the outfit, I feel so ready to put on the show for the designers, for the crowd, for Joleen, for the people we've lost. I'm just becoming the best version of myself,” Hanton said.
As she walked the long runway in a crowded theater, dressed designer Yolonda Skeltons red dress with a patterned cape and gold sequins, the crowd applauded as Hanton raised her arms and raised her head high.
This is a thank you from the West Coast. she says. We do this to show how grateful we are that you are here to witness what we want to present.
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