If British Vogue’s October issue celebrates a season of blockbuster fashion ahead, then the cover shoot – starring Hollywood’s leading man Leonardo DiCaprio and his Killers of the Flower Moon co-star, Lily Gladstone – centres around a quieter kind of storytelling, one that’s rooted in deep history.
DiCaprio’s MO for the Craig McDean-lensed editorial was “to see Lily shine”, while Gladstone herself tasked Edward Enninful with sourcing pieces that reflect her Native American heritage. The result is an eye-opening exploration of artistry that complements craft-centric fashion brands, such as Gabriela Hearst and Alexander McQueen, and highlights the importance of preserving age-old techniques.
A pair of quill earrings by Ironhorse Quillwork look as though they were made to be paired with Christopher John Rogers’s joyous knits when worn by Lily, who grew up on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation that straddles northern Montana and the Canadian border. The jewellery brand is masterminded by Indigenous quillwork artist Joe Big Mountain, who comes from the Mohawk, Cree and Comanche Nations, and to whom the process of wrapping and sewing quills has been passed by a long line of skilled ancestors. That the artisanship could have become extinct were it not for young quillers like himself makes seeing his work in the pages of Vogue all the more meaningful – particularly alongside a bamboo fleece blouse and skirt by Jamie Okuma, who is Luiseño, Shoshone-Bannock and an enrolled member of the La Jolla Band of Mission Indians in Southern California.
A coral, lapis, sugilite and turquoise ring by Hopi artist Charles Loloma, meanwhile, is emblematic of the late creative’s efforts to push the parameters of Native American jewellery through his use of unconventional materials, and signature technique of lining the inside of his treasures with the most expensive stones. Loloma means beauty in the Hopi language, but fellow Hopi artist Don Supplee’s work, which is inspired by nature and uses ancient methods such as volcanic rock casting, looks no less exquisite in the autumn fashion shoot.
Wearable art also comes via Ataumbi Metals’s Keri Ataumbi, who was raised in Wyoming’s Wind River Reservation and looks to Kiowa imagery to lead her narrative-led process. While Pat Pruitt, a contemporary jeweller of Laguna, Chiricahua Apache and Anglo descent, lent Vogue a pair of blackened zirconium earrings to accent Sarah Burton’s striking McQueen tailoring worn by a statuesque Gladstone.
The values of the actor, who framed her Valentino couture with Native American jewellery at Cannes Film Festival, chime with the mantra followed by Jennifer Younger, who says, “Looking back takes me forward.” Younger, who is Tlingit of the Eagle Kaagwaantaan clan and now lives in Sitka, Alaska, looks to Tlingit form-line designs and spruce-root basket weaving patterns to inform her freehand pieces, each of which is – just like Lily’s silver and coral necklace – totally unique.
Jewellery aside, the Louie Gong for Eighth Generation wool blanket, paying homage to Coast Salish weaving techniques, pops before McDean’s lens. Gong, who was brought up by his grandparents in the Nooksack tribal community in northwest Washington, founded Eighth Generation in 2008 after customising shoes in his living room. The Seattle art and lifestyle platform owned by the Snoqualmie Tribe aims to provide an authentic alternative to “Native-inspired” products through its artist-centric model. Burning Wagon Designs, in contrast, offers modern pieces that, according to its makers in the NDN Territory of Oklahoma, “leave no doubt that the person walking in the door is Indigenous”. The Burning Wagon Designs patterned pocket square tucked into DiCaprio’s Giorgio Armani suit takes his menswear from classic to conversation-starting.
Among the keepsakes sourced by Enninful and his team, with thanks to brilliant online portals such as Faust Gallery and Mahnaz Collection, there were many more Native American brands and collectives that could not fit in the tight final edit, but deserve readers’ time. Emme Studio is the colour-pop passion project of Korina Emmerich, who tells the story of her patrilineal Indigenous heritage from the Puyallup tribe with her graphic clothing and accessories. Lesley Hampton’s eponymous Indigenous-owned, women-led, size-inclusive brand aims to broaden fashion’s standards from its base in Toronto. Metis artist Evan Ducharme, who has ancestral ties to the Cree, Ojibwe and Saulteaux peoples, explores Metis identity with a focus on “creating images of contemporary Indigeneity and [the] reclamation of Indigenous sexualities”. Kanayu by Rebecca Baker-Grenier passes on the tropes of her Kwakiuł, Dzawada’enuwx and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh ancestry to the next generation through her intricate, expressive designs, which have enjoyed moments on New York’s runways, as well as at Vancouver Indigenous Fashion Week. 4Kinship is a Diné- (Navajo-) owned brand founded by community-focused Amy Denet, whose sustainable artwear is positively joyous. Sky-Eagle Collection represents Native American veteran Dante Biss-Grayson’s mission to offer clothes that empower the wearer. Thunder Voice Hat Co honours the cultural collaboration that has shaped Native fashion through its vintage headwear featuring the archetypal Navajo brim. And Patricia Michaels – whose company Waterlily Designs by Patricia Michaels nods to her Native name from her upbringing in Taos Pueblo, New Mexico – makes avant-garde, couture-esque pieces that have found their way onto Project Runway.
Fashion, like film, which DiCaprio says has a “chequered past in its depiction of Native American people”, has not always got it right, but the styling in October’s cover story underscores the actor’s assertion that “we need to do more”. Gladstone, Hollywood’s rising change-maker, is helping lead the way.