There’s a certain expectation that comes with winter footwear. It’s supposed to be warm. Practical. Dependable. Ideally, they’ll survive whatever the season throws at them and, hopefully, help keep you on your feet despite the risks that come with any combination of snow, ice, and gravity.
But what if winter footwear could do something more?
What if it could take your winter OOTD from practical to glamorous?
That’s exactly what Manitobah seeks to do with its latest Artist Series collaboration with House of Sutai, the celebrated Indigenous fashion house founded by NDN Country’s favorite auncle, Peshawn Bread.
For this exquisite capsule collection, Peshawn is bringing House of Sutai’s bougie Native aesthetic to the mukluk, adding pearls, dentalium shells, and snowflake details to a silhouette already closely associated with winter.
House of Sutai
House of Sutai (Soo-tai) was founded in 2023 by Peshawn Bread, a nonbinary designer, filmmaker, and creative director of Comanche, Kiowa, and Cherokee descent. A multidisciplinary creative, Bread has worked across fashion, film, and brand direction, including producing SWAIA’s prestigious fashion show during Santa Fe Indian Market, serving as a liaison for the Polo Ralph Lauren x Naiomi Glasses Artist in Residence Program, and working as an associate producer on Amazon Studios’ Outer Range and Marvel Studios’ Echo. Bread has also served as creative director for Teton Trade Cloth and other brands, and is a Sundance Film Institute alum. Their work as a model includes campaigns for Ralph Lauren and Saie Beauty.
House of Sutai debuted on the runway at the 2024 SWAIA Native Fashion Week with its first collection, “Disco Debut”. Bread used the debut to introduce a distinct fashion voice that blends Indigenous design, luxury, and romance with a broader mission to bring Indigenous design and LGBTQ+ and Two-Spirit representation into luxury fashion.
Manitobah’s Artist Series gives Bread another space to bring that vision to life.
Where Fashion Breaks Gender Rules and Carries Community Forward
The Manitobah x House of Sutai collection includes a unisex mukluk that reflects the brand’s design approach.
“My work is never gendered; I want everyone to be able to enjoy the designs and comfort,” said Bread. “I pride myself on my LGBTQ2S+ advocacy and strive to see my designs worn on community members worldwide. With these images I want people to know we belong in every era, decade and future.”
Bread’s creative inspiration has been shaped by family, culture, and the many communities they move through as an artist. They grew up hearing stories, learning to make traditional clothing, and watching relatives express themselves through their clothing. Their great-great-aunt Josephine Myers Wapp remains an important influence, as do Indigenous designers Orlando Dugi, Jamie Okuma, and Patricia Michaels, whose work helped demonstrate what was possible for those coming up after them.
Bread also credits the Native art, film, and fashion worlds, their tribal community, and the Queer community for advancing their work. “I am nothing without my community,” they said, pointing to the elders and predecessors who made space for the next generation. Their example continues to inspire Bread to create at the highest level while carrying those stories, traditions, and creative influences into their own work.
The collaboration reflects that perspective, bringing a contemporary fashion sensibility to a footwear form with longstanding Indigenous roots and popularity.
For a Sleigh or a Slay
This capsule collection makes a compelling case that winter footwear doesn’t have to choose between function and fashion. Manitobah and House of Sutai take a familiar cold-weather staple and give it a distinctly contemporary Indigenous point of view, designed “for a sleigh or a slay.”
Winter has never been short on rules. Manitobah x House of Sutai makes a strong argument for breaking those rules. Whether you’re headed out for a sleigh ride or ready to slay the streets, there’s no reason to leave the glamour at home when the temperature drops.
The Manitobah x House of Sutai collection launches September 17, 2026, at 12 p.m. MT.
Explore Manitobah’s Artist Series · Visit House of Sutai
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