Artistic talent comes in many forms. When we think of Native American arts and crafts we think of painting, drawing, sculpting, quilting, dolls, clothing, and beadwork. We don’t often think of fashion design. Design work takes a great deal of ingenuity and creativity. One Native American woman who has excelled in fashion design is Patricia Michaels.
Spoiler alert: There are some other really surprising and intriguing things about her life such as a famous grandfather that you will recognize!
Patricia Michaels (b. 1967, Taos/Pueblo) Fashion Design
In 2011, Patricia Michaels became the first Native American designer to show her collection at the prestigious New York Fashion Week.
Patrician Michaels is a unique fashion designer. Usually when we think of Native American designs, beadwork, silver and turquoise, fringe and feathers come to mind. These elements of Native American style have changed little over time. But Patricia Michaels has taken her creative and sophisticated fashions into the mainstream.
She grew up in Santa Fe where her parents had an art gallery in Taos Pueblo. When she was a child she watched her family and friends making ceremonial clothing. From the age of 4 she sat at her grandmother’s feet and learned. Her grandfather tanned hide to make his own moccasins.
She received an education at the Institute of American Indian Arts and the Chicago Art Institute. Patricia appreciates the traditional artwork of her people but she always wanted to make it more contemporary. Her work reflects both.
Patricia has mastered many techniques for her productions. She blends her own dyes and manipulates various textiles. For example, she has burned holes in a fabric to distress it. She uses silk screening and paints right on the items. She integrates fabrics such as felted wool and silk organza. Here is an example of mixed textiles.
Patricia has participated in many cultural exchanges from near to far. WK Kellogg Foundation funded a global exchange program from 2005-2007. She participates in the Santa Fe Indian Market but has also looked to New Zealand for ideas. She enjoys mixing shapes, textures, and other elements of her designs. Here are some examples of her unique work.
Besides the recognition she received from the New York Fashion Week, Patricia also won awards at the SWAIA Santa Fe Indian Market:
Best of Classification in Textiles 2011 (a first for a modern garment or textile)
First Place in Garments 2011
First Place in Contemporary Fashion & Accessories 2011
Patricia has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, an art review article with Andrea Shea of WBUR (for NPR’s “Here and Now”) and an interview with Karen Holmes Ward at WCVB Cityline TV. In 2024 the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture named her the recipient of its Living Treasure Award.
Patricia was well known for her designs during her participation in the 2012 Emmy Award-winning season 11 of “Project Runway.” Because of her notoriety, in June 2023, she was chosen to dress actress Tantoo Cardinal for the premiere of “Killers of the Flower Moon” at the Cannes Film Festival in France.
I want to tell you about her background and how she succeeded. But, I think it would be more interesting to readers if I let Patricia tell in her own words how she came to evoke her “own history and culture as part of a larger timeless narrative.”[1]
From her Mission Statement:
I create highly individualized pieces that are elegant, fluid, sophisticated, and organic by fusing my own aesthetic with Native American and European perspectives.
The detail of every garment, from hand-painted silk feathers, and meshed leather, to textures that echo the natural world, I evoke my own history and culture as part of a larger timeless narrative.
Each design tells a story. Just as a river is pierced by a tree branch, time is momentarily anchored within the garment. Each piece is created, is worn, and continues to create fresh new meanings into the future. Every person brings his or her own sense of self into the narrative and enriches the meaning. In this way, we might defy the consumerist sense of fashion as something we can put on, take off, and casually cast aside.
Patricia’s experience in the beginning:
While I was on Project Runway I encountered the constant battle of the fellow competitors not understanding who I was or where I came from. Even to the point of not knowing that Native Americans still existed. The judges and the guest judges were not knowledgeable about Natives or anything about my home state of New Mexico and would ask me about it over and over again.
I brought this piece of the unknown into my experience because 29 years before doing Project Runway I had been judged many times as a designer that was Native who didn’t know how to do Native designs or as a Native who didn’t do enough designing that is Native. A total Catch-22.
Behind the scenes at Project Runway, the comments and choice words that were directed towards me, at times were extremely hurtful. I tried my best to use the Project Runway platform to get my vision across through my work. I also felt it was a wonderful opportunity to give a voice not only to myself but the many other Native artists in the world.
I took advantage of using the critique time on the show to let the judges and guest judges give me advice and to listen and to ask questions. I knew that in reality, I wouldn’t have the time to converse with them at this level of attention on my work. It was a part of my mission to utilize every bit of their knowledge to take home to my studio after the show to better myself so I could add to my journey and build upon their constructive critiques of my work.
How her background informed her work:
I come from a family of dancers and performers so we applaud and support one another for our wins and understood to step up for the losses. I take competition with pride that I can be a part of work that carries me to the next level with grace and integrity. This is the way in which my beautiful talented family was raised, as a part of our being ambassadors for our beautiful Taos Pueblo.
This was the first time television saw someone, a Native American woman like me in a setting like this…as a fashion designer. Midway through Project Runway, I was still there.
If you want to see more of Patricia Michael’s work here are several websites:
https://www.americanindianmagazine.org/story/pueblo-style-takes-new-york
For more personal and family information:
https://www.patricia-michaels.com/bio
Bonus
The Colby Museum featured an article by Patricia which includes some great photos of her famous grandfather. He starred in the film Two Flags West as the main negotiator between the Natives and the US Army.
Though the Native community wasn’t entirely happy with the film, her grandfather felt that it was a way to get their voices heard. It also provided some good income. Patricia wrote a letter explaining who the Taos Society of Artists is and how they desire to preserve their culture. Be sure and listen to the audio recording of Patricia reading her letter.
My favorite quote from the article:
“Art is the connecting bridge that so many other societies fail to recognize.”
Today
Patricia continues to get her inspiration from nature and her Native roots. She has a company, PM Waterlily(after her Native name) which continues to keep Native traditions alive while offering unique modern items.
PM Waterlily designs are custom made out of Patricia’s Santa Fe, New Mexico studio and include high-end limited edition apparel and casual lines for both men and women. She chooses to work with organic materials whenever possible, and hand-dyes and paints her fabrics, often using algae pigments. Each design she produces showcases nature’s influence combined with fluid textures, creating clothing with movement and individuality. “My clothes tell a story”, says Michaels, “where the wearer gets to incorporate their own history and energy into the garment.”
[1] From Project Runway. https://www.patricia-michaels.com/project-runway
[2] From: https://museum-exhibitions.colby.edu/patricia-michaels-letter/
