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Designs by Patricia Michaels
Internationally acclaimed Native American designer
Patricia Michaels of Taos Pueblo, incorporates nature,
environment and cultural tradition into contemporary
fashions
Our cover photo "No Trespassing" by
Patricia Michaels
This is a photo taken from Michael's fabric printing
table, it has a strong image of "Anasazi" lighting storm
pattern with the beginning growth of vegetation as an
added part on the design. The orange colors are some of
the dyes from other fabrics.
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"Waterlily 2
Piece" The bottom of the skirt is made of Silk
Organza with an overlay of China Silk, cut in
the shape of a big waterlilies. The top is
bamboo off the shoulder with hand painted blue
watering holes. |
The Modern off the shoulder Ink Drip
Dress/Blouse, is from Soy with hand painted ink
drips. This is inspired from the
impurities pored into our water resources.
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The double
layered top made of bamboo and hand painted
for my spring summer collection is called "The
Watering Hole" It is inspired from living in the
desert and having what little water we have as
sacred. The dark blue is from a tank off the
shoulder top, which can be worn alone. The "Wool
Chain" is inspired by Coco Channel's gold chains
but as a Native, Michaels did it in wool. |
"Weathered Text" is made from Silk Organza,
Silk/Rayon Velvet and Hemp canvas. Michaels wanted
this series of "Weathered Text" to have the feeling of
what nature does to man made materials. When one is in
the city and you will find nature in the way that she
wears and tears away at the city scape. Nature finds
it's way.
Weathered text detail, the text on this reads: "No
Trespassing By order of Taos Pueblo Warchiefs Office.
Hunting
Fishing Woodcutting Motorbikes and Camping are
Prohibited".
"Circular Dress" This circular dress is made from Leather, Leather covered
buttons, Silk Charmeuse and Crinkled Silk Chiffon. I
love this drees because I've done it in many materials
for all different sizes and it always looks great! In
Native culture the circle takes on many uses and
meanings.
Patricia Michaels |
Patricia
Michael’s Work:
PM Waterlily
My ideas of “green” are really blue. My ideas
come from water. When there are obstacles, I go
back to my given name, Water Lily, and things
become clear. It is not so different from how,
as Pueblo people, we can look back to a protective
past. We consider our source, Blue Lake. Our
water remains pure and clean.
Water is wild—it deepens canyon and creates
rapids. But it is gentle, too, at the mercy of
wherever it goes, forced to pick up toxins and
pesticides. Water is not life giving; it is life
itself.
I want my clothing designs to be timeless and
fluid, reflecting the nature of water. I want
them to bring the past into the present, and
into the future. I try to respect fabric so that
it moves and breathes like water, and I hope my
clients can sense this deeper awareness. My
latest work reflects nature’s place in urban
life, reminding us that nature finds its way
everywhere.
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| I create highly individualized pieces
that are elegant, fluid, sophisticated and
organic by fusing my own aesthetic with
indigenous 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. |
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About Patricia
Michaels
Widely traveled,
well educated and inexhaustibly creative,
Patricia Michaels is a traditional Native
American woman who is a style-maker at the
forefront of modern fashion design and
aesthetics. She creates boldly hip designs with
a quality of timeless elegance by blending her
heritage with the inspiration she draws from the
ever-changing world around her.
Patricia came
into the world on the same day that her mother
danced in a buckskin dress at the opening of her
new gallery in downtown Santa Fe. After
performing in the heavy beaded garment, went
into labor. As a child, Patricia remembers
playing among giant stacks of Navajo rugs in the
back room of that gallery. This was the
first contact she had with the richness of
Native American textiles.
Later, Patricia
was drawn to the world of fashion design and
studied at the Institute of American Indian Art
and the Chicago Art Institute. She has lived and
worked in New York and Italy. As an up and
coming designer, she understands that tradition
and modernity combine to move forward the
dynamic and creative cultures of native peoples
(and in fact all cultures). This is the vision
that Patricia has carried with her throughout
her career, and it clearly shows in her work
Of her creative
process Patricia says, “I don’t own traditional
culture. I am just fortunate to participate. The
pure enjoyment and love I feel through this
participation, and my many travels create the
form, the shapes, cuts, textures and imagery of
my designs.”
Patricia's
commitment to both fashion and heritage has
manifested itself over the course of her career.
she has worked with the Kellogg Foundation on a
cultural and economic exchange project to
promote Native American and South African
fashion designers and artists. In August
2005 she, along with other native and African
designers participated in an international
cultural fashion show during Santa Fe's annual
Indian Market. In November, the Aboriginal
Awards Festival. In July 2007, she once
again collaborated with South African designers,
this time traveling to Johannesburg, where she
served as the assistant director for the second
cultural exchange show in the Kellogg-sponsored
project.
Patricia lives and works in Taos, New Mexico
where, in her studio, she produces: custom
tailored avant-garde fashions, high-end limited
edition apparel, and ready- to-wear lines for
men and women—as well as surface designs,
including fabric for interiors.
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Photos by Jennifer Esperanza. To se more of
Jennifer's work, please visit her website
www.jenniferesperanza.com
For more info and designs by Patricia Michaels visit her
website
www.pmwaterlily.com
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