ARIZE fashion show features Native designs

Posted by Krista Allen | Apr 13, 2016 | Arts, Culture |

TUBA CITY

Runway models with rockabilly hairstyles and some with Bettie Page styled bangs modeled clothes that communicated subdued elegance and soigné ease.

This was all part of the ARIZE Fashion Show at Tuba City Boarding School last Saturday.

Seven collections, including a line by young fashion design enthusiasts who are students at TCBS, were shown. And each collection was impressive, courting attention.

Shayne R. Watson’s show that afternoon really resonated, with clothes of vivid jacquard design – emblematic of the Southwestern frontier where it was first created and the Navajo patterns that inspired it – everything the Diné are all familiar with.

Watson’s fall collection balances the rustic and elegant Pendleton fabric with glamour. Color, print, and texture were the big messages from the Chinle-based designer.

In discussing his collection, Watson said “that wasn’t even half, there’s a lot more.”

Every season, Watson said, he tries to do something different, creating an entire new line. A lot of thought and work goes into these clothes, in other words.

“This season, I (surpassed) myself,” Watson admitted. “I took some new fabrics, incorporating sequin and more shinier, metallic fabrics – things that would accent the Pendleton fabrics.”

“I try to keep the variation of fabrics, based upon what I have in mind,” he continued. “It’s incorporating different textures.”