Designer from Kahnawà:ke debuts at New York Fashion Week

“It’s always been a dream of mine and I kind of just took a chance,” said Mohawk designer Karoniénhawe Diabo.

From Kahnawà:ke to New York,  an indigenous designer makes strides during fashion’s biggest week.

Mohawk fashion label She Holds the Sky Design is breaking barriers, combining traditional mohawk designs with a modern twist.

“I had to bring a mohawk perspective and, you know, that’s who I’m making my designs for is, you know, and not just for indigenous people, but I want anybody that wants to wear my, my garments or my designs. I want them to feel good about themselves in it,” said Diabo.

She Holds the Sky Design collection worn by a model during New York Fashion Week.

Karoniénhawe means ‘she holds the sky’ in the Mohawk language.  Every thread sewed with intention – to give Indigenous women stylish clothing that also represents their culture, rooted in history and a celebration of their ancestors.

“When I’m designing, when I’m making them, I am really thinking about the modern-day Indigenous woman regardless of age, young, you know, teenagers to our elders. You know, I want you to know, I want them to feel like they are wearing my clothing and be able to recognize things in my clothing like symbols or colours,” said Diabo.

Model wearing She Hold the Sky Design in New York.

“We have the wampum, I use that a lot in my current collection and a lot of people maybe won’t understand that. But from a Mohawk perspective, we understand why we use wampum for the wampum belts. It was our currency, we used them for trade, we used them to settle disagreements, so there’s definitely a meaning behind all the things that I used in my collection,” she said.

Diabo started sewing at the young age of 10 when her father saw her interest as she watched her family members sew their own garments. She’s since turned her passion into her vocation.

Indigenous designer showcases her designs in New York.

“My friend and her and her boyfriend needed a shirt. So they asked me would you be interested in doing it? It was my first order and ever since then, I have not stopped taking orders. And that was about seven years ago,” said Diabo.

Diabo says she feels unstoppable and powerful when dressed in traditional regalia – and she wanted to bring that feeling into her garments.

Mohawk designer from Kahnawake makes her debut at New York Fashion Week. A model poses in one of her pieces.

“You can wear these to work, you can wear them to school, you can wear them to ceremonies and still appropriate and it’s still  showing your pride as being an Indigenous person.”

She Holds the Sky Design will be featured in a fashion show in Denver, Colorado in March and will be back at a showcase at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts in April.