On a warm Saturday night, Phoenicians gathered at Talking Stick Resort in Scottsdale, Arizona to catch Couture Night on the third and final day of Phoenix Fashion Week. The three-day event concluded with a night of luxury collections by both emerging and global established fashion brands including Christine Adar, Elevee Lifestyle, and returning audience favorite, Rocky Gathercole, avant-garde and celebrity designer who flew in from the Philippines.
Among the impressive lineup, PHXFW 2017 Designer of the Year Loren Aragon of ACONAV – an Indigenous fashion couture brand based in Phoenix, Arizona – returned to the PHXFW runway for the fourth time to unveil his Spring/Summer 2020 collection.
Since his first runway debut back in 2016, Aragon has garnered a number of career highlights including designing a custom dress for Disney World currently on display at the American Heritage Gallery at The American Adventure in Epcot. Over the summer, Aragon also made Indigenous fashion history by dressing Colleen Jennings-Roggensack, Arizona’s only Broadway award voter, for the 2019 Tony Awards red carpet.
“Having ACONAV return to the runway year after year is truly an honor to witness,” said Brenna Moses, Director of Operations for Phoenix Fashion Week. “Our team has been behind him for four years now and to see him continue to grow creatively with his collections, as well as grow his brand’s footprint with marketing and sales is thrilling.”
Brian Hill, Executive Director of Phoenix Fashion, expressed the same sentiment, “His brand has become a staple at Phoenix Fashion Week and speaks volumes about the success an emerging designer can achieve.”
Indeed, in the realm of contemporary Native fashion, Aragon has broken many barriers and his latest collection only adds to the growing tapestry of contemporary Indigenous design. Known for his signature Acoma Pueblo pottery dresses, Aragon deviated a little with this collection and drew inspiration from the element of rain. Before his models stormed the runway, principal dancer, Rulan Tangen, of the dance company Dancing Earth performed a captivating interpretative dance set to the indigenous sounds of drums, gourd rattles, and chanting – all of which mimicked the soothing sounds of a calm rainstorm.
As the lights came up, the first two models turned the corner to reveal the first phase of the 15-piece collection – silk, chiffon gowns with billowing sleeves and gathered fabrication reminiscent of cloud formations in a color palette of white, gray, and lavender. In the next phase, Aragon introduced the idea of rainfall in the form of cascading charmeuse and chiffon dresses with Grecian-inspired silhouettes in a soft color palette of grays, blues, and violets. The dresses moved with gentle ease and the romance was further heightened by models donning natural makeup and effortless hair-dos.
In the final phase, Aragon concluded the collection with the idea of lightning using the color black in the form of edgy, pleated dresses and jumpsuits with strategically-placed asymmetrical cutouts to mimic the zig-zag shapes of lightning. For accessories, Aragon partnered with emerging accessory designer Dotlizhi (the Apache word for turquoise) who complemented his designs with her intricately beaded jewelry in the form of fringed earrings, plated cuffs, teardrop accessories, and lightning-shaped necklaces.
“I think everyone was expecting to see the same old pottery motifs, but with this collection, I wanted to expand on my culture’s perspective on rain and the prayers surrounding it,” said Aragon. “I wanted to show the various formations of rain; the way it falls, the droplets that form, as well as capturing the cycle that happens during a rainstorm.”
