TIMMINS - Indigenous designs were in the spotlight for the first-ever fashion show kicking off Niska Noel.
The first Niska Noel Indigenous fashion show took place at the Timmins Museum: National Exhibition Centre on Nov. 29 in front of a packed house. Hours, days, weeks, and months of work went into the outfits 13 Indigenous designers entered into the show.
The event’s MC Meghan Akiwenzie explained the details of each outfit created by Evelyn Turner, Ariel Nakogee, Riley Barnes, Jamie-Lee Reardon, Kimberly Bird, Wilma Neegan, Christine Fletcher, Holly Woodhouse, Lindsay Rose, Sydney Keay, and youth designers, Hailey Woodhouse and Zoey Cullen-Clement.
The show featured local Indigenous models.
“It can be challenging, like how am I going to look, how is this going to work out?” said Colleen Tapas, one of the models for the show. “But it’s like teamwork, the little pieces, they’ll just realize it all.”
The inspiration for many of the outfits called on nature in the north, connections to family and history, including the northern lights, Every Child Matters, and the comfort found on grandma’s couch.
The models had the help of a Shoppers Drug Mart make-up team to put the finishing touches on their looks.
After the show, designers sat down for a panel to talk about their work and what it meant to have the showcase.
While it was a late night for the volunteers, Mennonite Central Committee Indigenous neighbours program associate Clara Wheaton said it’s great to see the community get together for the event and the market on Saturday.
“It’s been amazing to see it all come together,” said Wheaton. “It’s been a huge team effort, whether it was blowing up balloons together or rolling out the red carpet, it’s been awesome.”
The market opens at 10 a.m. on Saturday and many of the artisans that took place in the fashion show will have booths there.
“We’re excited to tear down and set back up,” said Wheaton. “People who are in the audience tonight can come back tomorrow and purchase some of the things that went down the runway if the models don’t get to it first!”
The Mushkegowuk Food Sovereignty program will be setting up a teepee in front of the museum for the market. There will be bannock and other traditional and non-traditional food on site to enjoy while shopping.
While this is the first year for the fashion show, the Niska Noel market has been taking place for over 20 years. It is a partnership with the MCC Niska Artisan program, the Timmins museum, the Ojibway Cree Cultural Centre, and Misiway Health.
