Indigenous fashion designers gaining recognition on international runways

Melrene Saloy's love for fashion began as a child, making clothes for her dolls after her grandmother and aunts taught her to sew. 

Today, Saloy runs her own business, Native Diva Creations, which makes culturally appropriate First Nations jewelry and accessories. In September, she's taking a collection of her beaded jewelry and accessories to Paris Fashion Week.

"Everybody working with me there is Indigenous. So my hair, makeup, models, photographers, everyone is Indigenous," she said.

Saloy, a Blackfoot designer from Kainai Nation, started her business almost eight years ago.

After going on maternity leave, she decided she didn't want to return to work in retail management. So, she founded Native Diva Creations and never looked back.

Saloy did her first fashion show in 2015 in Santa Fe, N.M., and last year, models wore her designs on the runway during New York Fashion Week (NYFW).

"I literally was crying the whole time," Saloy said about her experience at NYFW. 

"It was so hard for me to just sit there because it was like, 'Look at my culture. Look at all of this just happening.'"

Saloy is one of several Indigenous fashion designers showcasing their work on national and international runways. She was recruited to bring her designs to Paris through the non-profit International Indigenous Fashion Week Inc. (IIFW).

The organization helps Indigenous designers make their way into the mainstream fashion industry and connect with each other. 

Chelsa Racette, founder and executive director of IIFW, said she started the organization so Indigenous designers could have the spotlight and not be sidelined in fashion shows.

"I was working multiple fashion shows in the United States and Canada, and they would only feature one or two Indigenous designers. So I figured we need our own," she said.

Since its founding in 2012, IIFW has taken Indigenous designers to fashion shows across the country and globe, including in New York, Paris and London.

Racette, who is Cree from the Nekaneet First Nation in Saskatchewan, said one of her main goals with IIFW is to bring Indigenous designers into mainstream fashion circles and network with other designers across the world.