Background

International Indigenous Fashion Week Inc. (IIFW) is a diverse experience blending fashion and music from artists and designers from around the world. The stimulating and refreshing

production includes street wear, eco-friendly & sustainable fashions, and traditional Indigenous designs with a modern day touch. IIFW has successfully been a global platform for Indigenous designers in helping them break into the mainstream fashion industry. IIFW Inc. is a highly successful and widely recognized event, providing a forum to nurture and celebrate the fashion, modelling, entertainment, and event planning industry.

Indigenous designers, models, musicians, and event planners represent the various First Nations from all across Turtle Island, so it is important for IIFW to recognize the rich heritage and history that makes up what Canadian Indigenous culture is today. IIFW takes great pride in showcasing the distinct heritage we have as Indigenous people through today’s fashion.

Relationships First

IIFW Inc.’s goal is to help build and develop self-awareness, self-respect, and self- confidence of emerging Indigenous designers and models so they may share their talents with the world, as well as to encourage our Indigenous youth to open their minds to the opportunities and careers within the fashion industry. IIFW Inc. serves to promote Indigenous culture, fashion, art & design by creating greater public awareness of our diverse talents through multimedia, and by providing a progressive environment for our designers to showcase their collections. IIFW Inc. also provides a great opportunity for performers, video artists, visual artists, musicians, and aspiring event planners to collaborate on our unique events.

Born from Experience

In 2005, as an effort to introduce the excitement and presence of modelling and fashion into the Indigenous community of Regina and area, Chelsa Racette (Reil), German, Irish, Chippewa, and Cree from the Nekaneet First Nation in Saskatchewan, opened the Indigenous modelling agency Glacsy Model and talent Management Canada (Glacsy) and the business 306 Fashion Week Productions Inc. (FWP). Five years later, Chelsa launched the first National Aboriginal Fashion Week on Turtle Island. Through this exciting endeavor, Mrs. Racette provided a platform for aspiring and established fashion designers, models, entertainer, hair and makeup artists, and Indigenous event planners to network and share their experiences within the fashion community. Since then, her events have expanded to an international stage, thus, the name change to International Indigenous Fashion Week Inc. (IIFW) in 2016, and most recently, has taken designers to NYC, Paris, London, Cannes, and now London and Milan. Mrs. Racette has conducted business in the fashion industry for over 18 years, and during this time she found that the presence and influence of Indigenous fashion is growing rapidly.

International Indigenous Fashion Week is the first Indigenous fashion event planning company to be in the BIG FOUR major fashion cities.