Indigenous New York Fashion Week: Emme Studio & Copper Canoe Woman
The Urban Indigenous Collective hosted an all indigenous New York Fashion Week event showcasing native talent in an installation featuring live models lounging dressed in Emme Studios’ latest collection, ‘Misshapen Chaos Of Well Seeming Forms’, and adorned with Copper Canoe Woman jewelry.
Korina Emmerich, the creator of Emme Studios, was on Season 13 of Project Runway, had her designs featured on Deb Haaland, U.S. Secretary of the Interior, on the cover of InStyle in August 2021, and was the only indigenous designer featured in “In America: An Anthology of Fashion” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the first part of the two part installment. Misshapen Chaos Of Well Seeming Forms was part of a three piece series, which started at Toronto’s Indigenous Fashion Arts, then it was featured at the Santa Fe Indian Market’s Centennial Fashion Gala Runway, and ended in New York City in a building located in the Garment District. Emmerich’s inspiration for Misshapen Chaos Of Well Seeming Forms derives from responsible design since she uses cradle-to-cradle fabrics–meaning that during the biodegradable process the fabric becomes nutrients to the soil and it also centers around community, culture, and mental health.
“It's really a discussion of the last couple years in isolation and what my own mind has gone through and how we're all collectively going through a mental health crisis,” said Emmerich. The collaboration between The Urban Indigenous Collective seems like a perfect marriage since they both want to get the same things across: community, culture, and an awareness towards mental health.
“As a social entrepreneur and innovative thinker, [I ask] how can we co-create together to increase the visibility of the different issues and disparities that we experience as a community and I think there are a number of different ways we could do that whether it's through art, programming, research–you name it. I think there's a way to make noise and put the spotlight on us for once,” says Sutton King, Co-founder and President of the The Urban Indigenous Collective.
The visual inspiration for Misshapen Chaos Of Well Seeming Forms is from heritage. Emmerich is from the Puyallup tribe from the Pacific Northwest and uses art creation stories and color stories from her culture to inform her work. The collection consisted of primary colors and grayscale taking shape into tribal patterns, checkered print and monochromatic looks.
Each model was accessorized with Copper Canoe Woman earrings. “It's acrylic, wood and metal, and it’s inlaid with abalone shell which is a traditional adornment and form of art in our culture,” said Vina Brown, Creator of Copper Canoe Woman. The standout piece from Brown’s work is the Salmon Ghost Earrings. “It's kind of this beautiful reminder that if we don't take care of the habit of the salmon, which is our main source of food then we’ll lose our culture,” said Brown.
During the event, King described the services that The Urban Indigenous Collective provide to their community including mental health services, databases for missing and murdered indigenous women, girls, trans and two spirit, scholarship programs, and teaching us about the many disparities that native people face. “Here in New York City, where we have 100,000 urban natives and not a sound structure to support our health and wellness. What is super important to understand is that 70 percent of natives now live in urban areas and Indian Health Service budget only allocates 1-2 percent of funding to urban areas. So there's a lack of culturally appropriate healthcare resources and being able to access them is vital to our vitality,” said King.
This event came together because they really wanted to have an all indigenous show and to show what the indigenous NYFW crowd was. “I wanted to do this show today to show people that we do not only exist in a historical context, that we are modern day indigenous people doing contemporary art today,” said Emmerich.