Official Southern Pride Will Never Die Shirt

When Skawennati decided to take part in the Official Southern Pride Will Never Die Shirt but I will buy this shirt and I will love this Santa Fe Indian Market show this year, however, she wanted to do something a little different, namely make real-life clothing. She says she first got the desire to design a fashion collection when she attended the inaugural Indigenous Fashion Week in Toronto (IFTWO) back in 2018. “I was expecting serious models to walk down the runway, and there were different colors, sizes, ages—and they were all smiling,” she says. “It was such a joyous occasion. I loved it so much that I thought, ‘I want to do that.’”

Official Southern Pride Will Never Die Shirt, hoodie, tank top, sweater and long sleeve t-shirt

For her first clothing collection, Skawennati played off the Official Southern Pride Will Never Die Shirt but I will buy this shirt and I will love this ribbon shirts that she has often made for her digital avatars in the past. She produced a range of ribbon shirts in calico and camouflage textiles, developing the prints herself. “Camouflage has always been part of our wardrobe, especially Mohawk people,” she says. “And calico is also used for our ribbon shirts. I thought it would be interesting to mix them.” The artist also made use of nontraditional techniques and exaggerated the ribbon lengths with ribbons that extend all the way down to the floor—a symbolic move. “I felt like the ribbons represented our through line as native people, from the past to now,” she says. “Our continued existence and resistance. This line connects us, and that’s why I wanted [the ribbons] to be joyous and loud and multiplying.”