Creativity, Culture, and Futurisms to Indigenize the Runway at the First Indigenous New York Fashion Week

This September, the runway gets indigenized. From September 11–15, 2025, Indigenous New York Fashion Week (INYFW) storms into Grace Exhibition Space in Lenapehoking (New York City), making history as the first Indigenous-led fashion week in the city. For five days, Indigenous designers, models, and artists from across North, Central, and South America will take over one of the world’s most powerful fashion capitals.

The event is hosted by Relative Arts NYC, led by Korina Emmerich (Puyallup) and Liana Shewey (Mvskoke), who have built INYFW as a stage where Indigenous creativity and futurisms converge to serve as a reminder that Indigenous design and fashion are not JUST inspiration or trends to be tokenized or appropriated. They are living expressions of our resistance, survival, and radical joy and imagination.

The programming includes a jewelry runway showcase directed by Omar Monroy on September 12, followed by designer runway shows on September 13 and 14.

The designer lineup reflects the incredible diversity and innovation of Indigenous fashion, featuring both established leaders and rising voices:

Dorothy Grant

Emme Studio x Autumn Chacon x Laura Ortman

Copper Canoe Woman

El Techichi

Janae S. Grass

Joe Bigmountain

Korblossom

Xander Stonefish

Red Clay

Original Landlords

ALTRN8V

Natalia Bermeo

Mobilize

Sky-Eagle Collection

Warmi Chic

Ayimach Horizons

Hahku

Kreations By Kehala

Creator Complex

Glasses Collection

Justin Jacob Louis

Pacha Arts

Native Nations Designs

Josh Tafoya

Relative Arts

Collaboration is central to the event, with Teton Trade Cloth, led by CEO Leslie Jerden, presenting collections developed alongside Michelle Luna (BitterWater for RedHouse), Jolonzo Goldtooth (JG Indie Designs), and Tina Bradley (Queena Ribbons).

What makes INYFW historic is not just the debut of an Indigenous fashion week in New York, but the vision behind it. Indigenous NY Fashion Week is a celebration of Indigenous presence and creativity, asserting that our stories are not only told, but lived, worn, and walked across the runway.