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First Nations Fashion by Kim Fackler fashion who had bought Isaac's earlier jew- "T Jit's really elaborate jewellery for your whole body." says Deborah Tait. who creates First Nations fashion wear with her husband Isaac. Fashion wear has become a marketable medium for First Nations art and the Taits. of Bowen Island, have shown their work internationally. They appeared in Wear It at the Legacy Gallery in Seattle. They create hand-sewn pieces appliqued with one-of-a-kind traditional designs. "We have successfully created a demand." says Isaac. The Taits say they put a lot of themselves into each garment. Isaac, a N i s g a ' a artist from Prince Rupert, A model hooded designed Deborah Isaac in a cape by and Tail ellery, carvings or paintings also bought his and Deborah's textile art. But the Taits are finding that the new medium is attracting new people. "People put them on and they don't want to take them off." Deborah says. B i l l M c L e n n a n , project manager at the U B C Museum of Anthropology, says it's hard to pinpoint when Northwest Coast designs began appearing in contemporary fashion. Decorated button blankets were given to both natives and non-natives as tokens o f esteem or thanks, and Cowichan sweaters with native designs have been sold since the early 1900s. He says Haida designer Dorothy Grant was one of the first to make the concept commercially viable. they approach design differently. Grant has shown her work internationally and has a boutique in the Sinclair Centre on West Hastings Street. Her garments combine Haida heritage and modern fashion. "I sell to a wide spectrum of people--my own people, other tribal groups and non-natives." Grant says. "The people who buy my work are attracted to it because they love the "You put a lot of yourself into it. There's a sort of power, an energy that comes from that." she says art form. Y o u have to feel like you can match the power of it." In Expo '86. Grant showcased her Raven Creation Tunic, the first piece of her Feastwear line. Canada's Museum of Civilization later purchased the Creation Tunic and other pieces by Grant for its permanent collection. Grant's Feastwear pieces range from $750 to $8000. In 1993. Grant was awarded the best professional designer award at Winds of Change, a Toronto fashion show and competition organized by the Canadian Council for Native Business. Edith Newman also participated in the Winds of Change competition and won best new designer. Traditional and non-traditional design appear on her contemporary clothing. Edith, a non-native from Victoria, creates garments that feature artwork by her husband. Victor, and son Karey. Both Victor and Karey are Kwakiutl. but Kim in Fackler Vancouver. is a freelance writer living Deborah designed Isaac Photo: Tait shows by herself detail and of a cape husband, Tait. Beth Coles sketches out a design and then completes a finished painting. "It really refines the design." Isaac says. "For a successful design it just has to be right." Isaac then cuts out the design, and Deborah hand sews the piece onto the scarf or wrap. It drapes better when it's hand sewn, but what's more important, says Deborah, is that hand sewing adds something special to the piece. Victor, who has been carving totem C D poles and jewellery tor almost 20 years, says he stays within the traditional forms of Northwest Coast art. Twenty-year-old Karey. however, usually combines native and European elements in his work. Edith says she decides where a design w i l l go on a garment and traces the shape of the area where the design w i l l rest. She marks this traced shape to indicate where seams w i l l go and gives it to Victor or Karey. The two must fit their flat design into unusual shapes that w i l l eventually form a vest or a coat. Once the sketched design is cut out of fabric. Edith appliques it to the garment using a blanket stitch on her sewing machine. Applique is a technique in which stitches that bind a top piece to a bottom piece can only be seen from the top. Early Northwest Coast people appliqued crests by hand onto blankets made of cedar bark or woven dog hair, says Edith. After European contact, they sewed designs on wool or felt button blankets. First Nations fashion has certainly reinvented itself since then.os ^ j/i ^ 7 Photo: Kim Southerst. 0~ Serious collectors tend to buy pieces in traditional colours of red or black, but the Taits offer wraps of Italian cashmere in more subtle earth tones as well. Their pieces range from $750 to $3800. Originally collectors