Spectators gasped as area artists, models and designers intertwined cultural heritage and style on Friday, Aug. 9 at the Farmington Museum and Convention Center. As the sun set with a natural background for attendees to view models from diverse backgrounds, Aeroprey Aerial & Still Imagery presented their third annual Diversity Celebrated Fashion Show.
Models showcased clothing, jewelry and accessory designs inspired by Indigenous and Hispanic culture. The show included an array of styles from men’s contemporary casual tops accented with an Indigenous flair to intricately showcased Quinceañera dresses and authentic handmade traditional Indigenous jewelry.
Designers included local artisans Breezy Designs, Letta Lynn Designs, Penny Singer Designs, Foxfire Designs, María Alondras, Hector y Socorro Teran, Casa Nechel Alta Costura & Melissa Peña Andrade and Ximena Tellez and Lena Brown, and Tellez said the Latin community donated the Quinceañera dresses for the show.
Area designers presented their workmanship to spectators through the participating 30 models, whose ages ranged from 14 to 40. The fashion designers were all from the area and are from Hispanic and Indigenous backgrounds. Their designs included blends of their cultures, mixing traditional wear with a contemporary twist and designs that pay homage to those who have experienced injustice.
When speaking to the Tri-City Record about their display of merchandise, Breezy Designs shared the importance of traditional Navajo representations. The business partners shared that they have participated in several fashion shows and have an online boutique.
Breezy Designs’ partners shared that they are generational Native American artisans who integrate symbolism from traditional stories when creating their jewelry and clothing. An example of such practice can be seen in a bow-and-arrow necklace pendant that pays homage to the legend of the Twin Monster Slayers. She also includes velvet material in their clothing designs.
Indigenous artisan Charletta Bahe presented her designs from her jewelry line Letta Lynn Designs in collaboration with fashion designers at Aeroprey’s Celebrating Diversity Fashion Show. Bahe has participated in four fashion shows in the past three years.
Charletta told how she learned stringing necklaces from her mother as a child growing up on the Navajo Nation and how she fell in love with the art of jewelry.
“The beginning of the second year of making jewelry as a business, I was given the opportunity to show my jewelry in a fashion show in Gallup, New Mexico, that was supporting a cause in Commemoration of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women in the surrounding area that was hosted by Marian Mike with Breezy Designs,” she said.
Charletta divulged how one meeting led to many introductions and collaborations, and it all eventually led to her invitation from Alexander Simpson of Aeroprey to be the exclusive jewelry provider for the 2024 Aeroprey Celebrating Diversity Fashion Show.
Alexander Simpson owner of Aeroprey, one of the event organizers, shared with the Tri-City Record that when planning a show, he considers the comfort of the location for audiences and performers and whether the audience will envision show’s story and have the resources and connections for the production.
Simpson stated that he and his collaborators have pulled off four fashion shows since the start of the COVID pandemic, after he became inspired by his modeling team’s dreams of participating in high fashion events. He looks for and values the traits of confidence and respect.
“I started the agency because it offered an opportunity for the community to reconnect and try something fresh for those aspiring to be models,” he said. He credited the show’s success to his lifelong residency of San Juan County and to his team, while acknowledging the “tremendous amount of training, coordination, scheduling and planning with all those involved.”
He said he gives one or two people the chance to coproduce the diversity fashion show, and this year, it was Ximena Tellez who brought the Mexican aspect of the show together.
Ximena Tellez said she started her modeling career at age 12 in Farmington and now is a business owner and a student at San Juan College. She began her mission at the start of the year with a tiny notebook in her kitchen. She had no contacts or interested parties, and with her mother’s help and the assistance of other community members, she pulled it off.
Tellez’s vision was to give designers and performers the chance to represent their culture and to show young people the pride of old Mexican culture, symbolizing their warrior spirit with headdresses mixed with contemporary dance and design.
“The feathered headdresses were brought by Socorro and Hector Teran, who help manage traditional Matachin dances and other cultural events and the history of the outfits were from the Aztecs who were pre-Columbian Mesoamerican people of central Mexico in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries.” said Tellez.
“The inspiration for the performances was to display the traditional and modern dances which were brought to life by Carrasco Dance Productions,” she said.
Daniel Carrasco, whose Carrasco Dance Productions is based in Bloomfield, echoed Simpson’s sentiments about providing creative outlets for youths.
“Our mission is to empower the youth, while also building strong, courageous, confident dancers and leaders of tomorrow,” he said.
Noticing a lack of Latino people in the local dance community, he wanted to step up.
“Growing up, I couldn’t afford to attend a dance studio, so I began making my own opportunities to be seen via school talent shows and community events,” Carrasco said.
That night, he aimed to share his culture.
“I wanted to showcase how beautiful the music and movement can be. Sharing our culture with others is something we take so much pride in, and it was the dancers’ first time being in a very professional setting with models and designers,” he said.
“I want my dancers to realize that it doesn’t matter where you come from, your background, as long as you believe in yourself the sky is the limit. ... I’m an example of what love and support looks like.”
“Having so much support from the community, parents and everyone has really shaped what Carrasco Dance Productions is,” said Carrasco
Other cultural performances featured local talent including a hoop dance and a song performed by Montero “Animas” Pablo, who said he “hopes to shine some light on the surrounding towns of his home, and to make a difference for the local music scene.”
Animas also shared with the Tri-City Record that a major goal is to “to show people that we all can get through the hard times by self-power, hard work, karma, balance and pushing through the struggles.”
