{"id":16725,"date":"2019-09-26T16:55:07","date_gmt":"2019-09-26T20:55:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/?p=16725"},"modified":"2020-05-01T11:07:58","modified_gmt":"2020-05-01T15:07:58","slug":"cosmic-couture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/cosmic-couture\/","title":{"rendered":"Cosmic Couture"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: none; width: 100%; height: 450px;\" src=\"\/\/e.issuu.com\/embed.html?backgroundColor=%23fefefe&amp;d=oct19_flipbook&amp;hideIssuuLogo=true&amp;pageNumber=28&amp;showOtherPublicationsAsSuggestions=true&amp;u=portlandmagazine\" width=\"300\" height=\"150\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h1 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Maine\u2019s <b>Native American<\/b> <b>fashion<\/b> <b>designers<br \/>\n<\/b>seize the international <b>spotlight<\/b>.<\/span><\/h1>\n<p class=\"p1\"><em><span class=\"s1\">By Sofia Voltin<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-16744\" src=\"http:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/oct19-voguergb.jpg\" alt=\"oct19 voguergb\" width=\"375\" height=\"404\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/oct19-voguergb.jpg 375w, https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/oct19-voguergb-278x300.jpg 278w, https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/oct19-voguergb-200x215.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/oct19-voguergb-325x350.jpg 325w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 375px) 100vw, 375px\" \/><span class=\"s1\">The Wabanaki designers <strong>Decontie &amp; Brown<\/strong> are taking center stage across the fashion universe. The married duo Jason Brown and Donna Decontie-Brown kicked off the spring with their Wabanaki-inspired fashion show at Portland Masonic\u2019s \u201cMr. Longfellow\u2019s Cocktail party\u201d fundraiser. In August, the Bangor residents brought their designs to the <strong>Haute Couture Fashion Show<\/strong> event at the renowned <strong>Santa Fe Indian Market<\/strong> and took both the first and second place ribbons in contemporary jewelry, too. One of their runway designs, \u201cDawnland,\u201d was featured in <em>Vogue. <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p5\">\u201cNormally, you only find Native American art next to the dinosaur exhibit,\u201d Jason Brown says. \u201cWe\u2019re bringing antiquity and contemporary art together. We expose people to what\u2019s ancient about who we are through our creativity, and we do it in a way that seems futuristic\u2014especially with the creations we send down the runway. It subliminally says, \u2018We\u2019re not going anywhere. We\u2019re going to remember who we are. It\u2019s ok to evolve, but we\u2019ll still hold on to our culture and heritage.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\"><span class=\"s1\">While including traditional Wabanaki elements into their cutting-edge concepts, Decontie &amp; Brown also pull from the Maine landscape to fuel their creativity. \u201cWe are surrounded by endless inspiration in nature,\u201d says Donna Decontie-Brown. \u201cFrom the great horned owl, the brown ash tree, to our traditional food (the fiddlehead), all have led to designs both in jewelry and fashion.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\"><span class=\"s1\">\u201cForsythia is an outfit that was completely inspired by Maine,\u201d says Brown. \u201cEvery Mainer can relate to a tough winter. We look forward to the forsythia flowers because it\u2019s one of the first things to bloom each spring. You\u2019ve got to respect a plant that\u2019s so excited for spring\u2014like the rest of us\u2014it can\u2019t even wait for its leaves to grow. The flower shoots out first.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\">Decontie-Brown\u2019s heart lies even closer to another design from the runway. \u201cArmored Beauty is my current favorite piece,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s a visual representation of empowerment. We strategically and intentionally adorn the hand-painted gown with spikes in areas of the body where women are typically touched, often without their permission. This gown sends the message, \u201cYou cannot put your hands on me without my consent. I\u2019m deserving of respect, and you will treat me accordingly!\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_16747\" style=\"width: 234px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-16747\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-16747\" src=\"http:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/klouscaprgb-224x300.jpg\" alt=\"\u201cIt doesn\u2019t get more ancient than Klouscap. When the earth was new &amp; wild, everything was out of control, so the Creator put Klouscap on the earth to make the land safe for humans. Klouscap dressed as an autumn porcupine warrior was completely an original creation\u2014not from the legends. I borrowed the legend and made it into something new.\u201d\" width=\"224\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/klouscaprgb-224x300.jpg 224w, https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/klouscaprgb-768x1030.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/klouscaprgb-763x1024.jpg 763w, https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/klouscaprgb-200x268.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/klouscaprgb-261x350.jpg 261w, https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/klouscaprgb.jpg 802w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 224px) 100vw, 224px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-16747\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">\u201cIt doesn\u2019t get more ancient than Klouscap. When the earth was new &amp; wild, everything was out of control, so the Creator put Klouscap on the earth to make the land safe for humans. Klouscap dressed as an autumn porcupine warrior was completely an original creation\u2014not from the legends. I borrowed the legend and made it into<br \/>something new.\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n<h5 class=\"p7\"><strong><span class=\"s1\">From Motion to Emotion<\/span><\/strong><\/h5>\n<p class=\"p8\"><span class=\"s1\">T<\/span><span class=\"s1\">he market\u2019s celebration of antiquity with contemporary art stretches beyond the runway. <strong>Jeremy Frey <\/strong>won best in basketry both this year and last. \u201cI use all traditional ideas, techniques and weaves, but I put things together in a more contemporary way,\u201d he says. \u201cI carry my culture in my art. I\u2019m sad to say I don\u2019t know our language, but I know the language of weaving.\u201d I honor our culture through my art.\u201d Frey specializes in creating ash baskets, central to the Wabanaki method. \u201cAsh basketry was originally used to store food and transport things around\u2014\u2018ancient Tupperware\u2019 as I call it. As we got colonized and a monetary system came into play, an elaborate, artistic version of the ash baskets developed around the turn of the century. My baskets are currently on display at the <strong>Maine Historical Society<\/strong>, the <strong>Portland Museum of Art<\/strong>, and <strong>Colby Museum of Art<\/strong>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\"><em><span class=\"s2\">W\u00edw<\/span><span class=\"s3\">\u018f<\/span><span class=\"s2\">nikan<\/span><\/em><span class=\"s1\"><em>\u2026the beauty we carry<\/em> is a contemporary art exhibit at Colby through January 12, 2020. Two jewelry pieces by Jason Brown lend a sense of mythic astonishment to the exhibit. The Basket Inlay Cuff is made from .935 argentium silver, with turquoise, lapis, dalmatian, Ethiopian opal, Siberian jet, Maine jasper, granite and rhyolite, shed deer antler, and woven brown ash. \u201cThis is the first-ever inlaid miniature brown ash basket and pays homage to the master jewelers of the southwest with a Wabanaki aesthetic,\u201d says Brown. \u201cThe creation cuff is one of my originals created in copper and brown ash. It depicts the Wabanaki creation story\u2014 Klouscap shot his arrow into the brown ash tree and the Wabanaki came out of the tree.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\">\u201cWe\u2019re sharing our culture, the beauty of where we\u2019re from, and celebrating our creativity,\u201d says Brown. \u201cA lot of people are afraid of cultural appropriation. When you wear work by a Native American designer, we\u2019ve already vetted it for you. We want people to know and realize that what we do is for everybody. If you like what we do and it makes you feel fabulous, then it\u2019s for you\u2014regardless of your race or body type. We are for everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h4 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>\u201cFixed Stars Govern a Life\u201d<\/b><\/span><\/h4>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The <strong>Santa Fe Indian Market<\/strong>\u2014a celebration that highlights both traditional and contemporary Native American Art\u2014makes use of the word \u201cIndian\u201d when referring to Native Americans. To some it might seem outdated. It puts others\u2019 teeth on edge.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">\u201cThe show is a hundred years old,\u201d says <strong>Jeremy Frey.<\/strong> \u201cIt would be strange to change the name now. I don\u2019t think [Indian] is derogatory\u2014I think its origins are, but even then it was based more out of ignorance.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">\u201cSince I\u2019m a member of two tribes, I refer to myself as <strong>Penobscot<\/strong> and <strong>Anishinabe<\/strong>,\u201d <strong>Donna Decontie-Brown<\/strong> says. \u201cI refer to others according to the tribe they\u2019re from rather than using a blanket term, unless one\u2019s tribe is unknown or I\u2019m referring to people from numerous tribes. I prefer to use Native American or Indigenous rather than Indian. I just feel that Native American and Indigenous are more reflective of who we are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">\u201cFor me, it\u2019s not the word [Indian], it\u2019s the intent behind it,\u201d <strong>Jason Brown<\/strong> says. \u201cI know who I am regardless of how people describe me or how people refer to me. I love the term \u2018Indigenous.\u2019 Words are powerful. Choose them wisely.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">(The Smithsonian Institute engages the controversy directly with its \u201cNational Museum of the American Indian.\u201d What are your thoughts and feelings? Email <strong>staff@portlandmonthly.com.<\/strong> Also see Sylvia Plath\u2019s poem \u201cWords.\u201d)<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Maine&#8217;s People of the Dawn in the fashion world.<br \/>\nBy Sofia Voltin<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16741,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[490,485,487,492,488,491,489,493,486],"class_list":["post-16725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","tag-colby-museum-of-art","tag-cosmic-couture","tag-decontie-brown","tag-haute-couture-fashion-show","tag-jeremy-frey","tag-maine-historical-society","tag-santa-fe-indian-market","tag-sofia-voltin","tag-vogue"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16725","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16725"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16725\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18569,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16725\/revisions\/18569"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16741"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}