Vashti Etzel of Golden Eye Designs from Faro has been selected to participate in the Indigenous Fashion Arts Festival in Toronto from May 30 to June 2
In 2022, Vasht Etzel was part of a cohort sent by Yukon First Nations Culture & Tourism Association and Adäka Cultural Festival to experience the bi-yearly Indigenous Fashion Arts Festival (IFA) in Toronto. There, The Faro-based designer and the rest of her group immersed themselves in the market and the panel discussion of the festival, with the goal of determining whether they’d make good fits for the festival and be interested in participating in the future.
“It was so inspiring,” said Etzel. “We spent about three days there, and there were quite a lot of vendors and tons of people. It’s a really high-paced environment.”
Among the attendees, Etzel noted, could be celebrities and social influencers, so there’s no knowing who might stop by to look at any vendor’s art and clothing, and any potential sale could go a long way. This year, Etzel will be participating as a vendor, but says she eventually would like to be part of the festival’s fashion show, as well, after a good year or two of preparing a collection for it.
“I decided last winter when they put a call out for applications,” she said. “I definitely wanted to take part in the marketplace as a vendor.”
Etzel describes her work as “slow fashion” and “luxurious Indigenous fashion.”
“My work is actually quite intricate,” she explained. “There’s a lot of details that go into my work and I’m known for my vibrant colours and my colour palettes that really stand out. I like to incorporate beadwork, porcupine quills and sometimes I’ll add some fancy gemstones in there, or sterling silver or gold beads. I really enjoy it; it’s a lot of fun.”
Etzel started sewing and beading around a decade ago when she had her first child. Living in Ross River at the time, she wasn’t finding a lot of employment opportunities and was staying home to raise her child as there was no daycare in town at the time.
“My way of reconnecting with my culture was teaching myself how to sew,” she said.
“I like to call it blood memory. My grandmother was a sewer, too, and I remember sitting and spending a lot of time with her while she sewed.”
It started with Etzel making clothing, shoes and accessories for her son, but from there, she began playing around more and more to make whatever she could. After posting a beaded poppy to Facebook, to show family and friends something she was proud of, Etzel found her inbox flooded with people asking how they could buy the piece.
“I’d never sold anything I’d made before,” she said. “It was an eye-opening experience because I never thought that I would be able to make a living off of something that I made.”
The IFA takes place in Toronto from May 30 to June 2. The festival’s commitment is to explore connections between mainstream fashion, Indigenous art and traditional practice, with a marketplace, runway show and a variety of panels and workshops. To learn more about the IFA, visit indigenousfashionarts.com.
