This Gwich’in designer is taking her brand to a Paris fashion show

Inuvik-born designer Dorathy Wright has spent the past month preparing to attend a fashion event in Paris.

Wright, who lives in Norman Wells, developed an interest in sewing at an early age and went on to launch her own business, Willow Crescent Quilting, in 2014.

She has travelled across the Northwest Territories and Yukon to extend her knowledge through quilting workshops, partly through the help of a GNWT grant.

Now, Wright is ready to bring some of her parka designs to an event named Paris City Fashion Week, which takes place in March. (The fashion week, which calls itself “an exclusive fashion event” for international designers, says it is not affiliated with Paris Fashion Week.)

Wright said she will be accompanied on the trip by 10 Indigenous models: one from the NWT and three each from Yukon, Winnipeg and North Dakota.

She said she met some of the models through previous fashion show and others when they formed part of her workshops.

“It’s a big deal and it’s a lot of hard work. A lot of people have put time and effort into this. My models are all fundraising to bring themselves to Paris and for the experience – to say that they’ve walked a runway in Paris,” Wright told Cabin Radio.

Wright recalls attending a Healthy Babies program in Inuvik to learn how to make traditional clothing for her children, who are just as involved in sewing as she is. Her 12-year-old daughter Hope – who has been sewing since she was six – acted as a “little assistant” during a recent class at Yellowknife’s Mahsicho store.

An adult parka takes Wright four to six hours to complete, while a children’s parka is finished in under two hours.

“Growing up in the Delta, there’s a unique design there that is just called the Delta-style parka. I really like those. They’re really easy to do, and they look amazing. They’re very stylish. You could do kind-of anything with the pattern,” she said.

Wright was also part of a fashion show in New York last February, for which she produced 10 outfits. The year before, she got an opportunity to go to Milan to learn more about the fashion industry through Indigenous Fashion Arts.

Before securing a spot in Paris, Wright had contacted another Paris fashion show that she said turned out not to be as inclusive toward plus-size models. She said she wanted to stay true to her brand and decided that event was not for her.

All of the 12 designs for the March event will be customized to the models’ overall look. Manitobah Mukluks had provided shoes for Wright’s New York show and is expected to do the same for Paris.

Behchoko’s Mercedes Rabesca is one of the models for Wright’s show.

While Rabesca took part in a small fashion event within the Tłı̨chǫ region a few years back, this will be her first international runway walk.

“It took a while for me to really accept it. I am pretty excited just to see the scene there and to make the travel. I am a bit nervous because I never expected to be in this position,” she said.

“I’m excited to learn, to experience it, and help Dorathy showcase her work and everything she’s done because she is amazing. I love her work very much.”

Rabesca met Wright during a parka-making workshop called “Come Sew With Auntie.”

Now the community’s recreation manager, she is on the lookout for funding to bring back that kind of workshop.

Rabesca said she wants to keep such activities free to encourage participation from people who cannot afford to pay for them. She said beaver fur, for example, can cost upward of $170 depending on the kind of pelt purchased.