Inaugural Native Fashion Week's pop-up shops promise interactive experience

May 2—The runway is meant to astound.

The lectures are meant for knowledge.

But the pop-up shops and "activation spaces" planned for this weekend at the Southwestern Association for Indian Arts' first-ever Native Fashion Week? Those are all about hands-on fun.

For $15, visitors can wander a maze of booths of more than 30 artists and vendors both Saturday and Sunday at the Santa Fe Community Convention Center, said SWAIA Executive Director Jamie Schulze.

"The idea of the pop-up shops and activation spaces was to really create an interactive event with people," Schulze said.

Attendees can strut a denim runway — a red carpet alternative — that will unfurl courtesy of Cowboys & Indians Magazine. They can peruse a L'Oréal beauty bar or take in the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts' massive disco ball display.

They can try out skin care product samples from N8iV Beauty from Ruth-Ann Thorn, a longtime gallery owner and economic developer whose new line features the acorn oil traditionally used by her community, the Rincon Band of Luise?o Indians in the San Diego area.

"I'm so excited," said Thorn, a sponsor of the event and longtime attendee of SWAIA's annual Santa Fe Indian Market. "I think this event is going to be the first of many, and I think it's going to be one of those go-to [events] ... not just for the Native/Indigenous community but for people globally."

Thorn said it's been three years since she started working on the N8iV Beauty product line, inspired by a trip to a San Diego Sephora with her then-14-year-old daughter, Isabella Thorn.

"They have everything, African American, Korean, Japanese, East Indian — you've got all of the array at Sephora," Ruth-Ann Thorn said. "And [my daughter] asked me, she said, 'Mom, where's the Native American section?' "

It took time to find laboratories that would work with organic, natural products, but eventually Thorn was able to bring three products to market. She currently sells them exclusively online, marketing to both men and women, but said she recently secured a pact with Nordstrom and is preparing to scale up production to meet that demand.

She said she also recently made a decision to turn away queries from companies that wanted her to create a less-expensive brand than her current products, which range from $95 to $125 on her website.

"I really don't want people to be looking at us Native people as dollar store people," she said. "We've been dollar store for a really long time. ... But I feel like if we can elevate ourselves and see ourselves in a place of luxury, it's going to inspire that next generation that they can hold their head up high."

The Native Fashion Week marketplace also serves as a platform for Indigenous designers and artists who haven't had a chance to show at more formal, juried events like the Santa Fe Indian Market, SWAIA's flagship event, Schulze said.

"There's some contemporary voices out there that sometimes don't have the opportunity or the time to try to jury in," she said. "This time ... allowed us to be more aware of that and to create that space and opportunity."

There are also displays from non-Native creators excited about supporting the Native Fashion Week mission. That includes Santa Fe-born gallery owner and artist Bobby Beals, who in recent years has dived into creating art on skateboards after picking up the sport at age 40. Beals collaborated with artist Jeddadiah Emanuel on an installation of a "couture dress" made of cut-up used skateboards. It won't be worn by a living model — "it would be kind of heavy," Beals said — but will adorn a skeleton model, along with a necklace of the same material.

"I just hope people are inspired in many different ways, whether it's the fashion to express themselves ... or through the art to inspire them to create, or even through skateboard culture," he said. "... I'm excited about the fashion, what fashion designers are doing and Indigenous designers are doing."