Indigenous fashion has always been more than clothing; it’s been a living archive of identity, resistance, and kinship. Now, a landmark new exhibition is making that truth undeniable on an institutional stage.
Always in Fashion opens May 1 at the Textile Museum of Canada in Toronto, bringing together a powerful roster of Indigenous designers and artists whose work is reshaping fashion across Turtle Island. Curated by Amber-Dawn Bear Robe of the Siksika Nation, the exhibition is a bold declaration that Indigenous creative practices aren’t on the periphery of fashion history.
Bear Robe is one of the most pivotal voices in Indigenous fashion today. As the founder of Native Fashion Week, former producer at SWAIA Native Fashion, and current Assistant Professor of Native and Indigenous Art History and Material Culture at Parsons School of Design, she has spent her career building the frameworks that allow Indigenous fashion to be seen, studied, and celebrated on its own terms. In 2023, she received the Canadian Arts & Fashion Changemaker Award, and in 2024, she spearheaded the inaugural CAFA Award for Indigenous Fashion, a recognition she made happen.
“The curatorial goal for this exhibition is to extend the dialogue around Indigenous fashion beyond entertainment and runway presentations,” Bear Robe says. “As Indigenous fashion studies start to emerge within academic spaces, it is essential to create space with exhibitions like this, for critical conversations that reflect the depth, complexity, and evolving landscape of Native fashion.”
The exhibition features an expansive and deeply exciting lineup of designers and artists: Jeremy Arviso (Original Landlords), Jason Baerg (Ayimach Horizons), Himikalas Pamela Baker (T.O.C. Legends), Catherine Boivin, Maggie Catface-Bear Robe, Dorothy Grant, Rebecca Baker-Grenier, Michel Dumont, Korina Emmerich (EMME Studios), Lesley Hampton, Shoshoni Hostler, Brian Jungen, Jontay Kahm, Justin Jacob Louis, Alex Manitoypes (SACRD THNDR), Patricia Michaels, Douglas Miles, Kent Monkman, Benjamin Nelson (Son of Picasso), Randi Nelson, Nonamey, Melrene Saloy-Eaglespeaker (Native Diva Creations), Jaylene Tyme, and Qaulluq (Clara McConnell). Together, their work challenges neocolonial frameworks in fashion while reclaiming cultural narratives through ancestral techniques, contemporary innovation, and unapologetic creativity.
Always in Fashion is open now at the Textile Museum of Canada, and it’s exactly the kind of moment the fashion world has been waiting for.
