In the Indigenous fashion world, Jamie Okuma has been showcasing her distinctive ready-to-wear collections at events like the Santa Fe Indian Market for years now, and is already considered to be at the top of her class. (In the art world, her beadwork and soft sculptures have also been displayed at museums such as the Smithsonian and the Met.) But this season, Okuma—who is Shoshone-Bannock and Luiseño, hailing from the La Jolla Indian Reservation in California—marks a new career chapter, by making a historic entry into the main CFDA New York Fashion Week calendar, becoming the first Native designer to do so. (A long-overdue milestone.) “To be on the calendar is very cool—and a lot of pressure,” says Okuma, who is also one of the finalists in the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund this year.
Given the collection, which is see-now-buy-now, serves as her splashy introduction to the New York fashion scene, Okuma wanted to zero in on pieces that showcase what she does best—her signature printwork. “I really wanted to solidify my designs as an artist,” she says. ”I wanted something very me, but modernized and updated.” Her original patterns, which are her calling card, feature graphic motifs of dentalium shells, flowers, elk teeth, and butterflies, all of which pay tribute to the beauty of organic materials. (It’s no secret, after all, that the Native community has a symbiotic relationship with the natural world around us.) “A lot of the flowers were taken from my own images,” says Okuma. “They were taken at my studio, or places that I’ve travelled. Flowers are like a diary for me—representing certain times in my life.”
Photo: Cameron Linton
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