Launching His Eponymous Label, Justin Jacob Louis Embraces True Colours
New York Fashion Week carries cultural cachet in spades. A-list celebrities flock to the front rows to watch strings of supermodels wearing the works of ruthlessly chic designers. The clothing is bespoke and avant-garde, eager to be captured with the overstimulating glamour of a camera flash. Naturally, to stand out from such a crowd is an almost-Sisyphean task. And yet, with his eponymous label’s debut, Indigenous designer Justin Jacob Louis has pushed the boulder up the hill.
Louis’s September show opened with a grass dance performed by Indigenous Enterprise, a dance troupe that aims to strengthen cultural understanding of Indigenous identity through performance. In Louis’ community, the grass dance “sets the stage” at camp — a fitting choice for his NYFW debut: “It was like, ‘let’s bless the stage before we do our work,'” Louis says. And bless the stage he did. It was a captivating sight, with passion pulsating through every step of the hypnotic routine, performers swaying and spinning with raw, refreshing abandon. From dancers to models to jewellery designers, the engine of Justin Jacob Louis’ Fall 2024 preview is unflinchingly authentic.
“They’re actually friends of mine,” Louis says of the dancers. “We have a pretty tight-knit art community. When I first committed to doing New York, they were some of the first people I called,” he explained. With past performances at the Superbowl and Sydney Opera House, Indigenous Enterprise’s resume is certifiably stacked. Meanwhile, Louis’ streetwear brand SECTION 35 has no shortage of accolades, being featured at the Met and included in Spring 2023’s Milan Fashion Week.
Connecting with Indigenous designers and artists — and recruiting Indigenous models for his shows — is incredibly important to Louis. “Some of them are walking for the biggest brands in the world, but they’ll make it work for us because they want to help support their own people, and lift up their people,” Louis says. This sense of community affords Louis’s shows a relaxed atmosphere. The designer talks of the warmth backstage, and describes fashion week as “a bunch of Native kids hanging out and having fun.”
Still, the launch of a new label remains a serious thing. “Obviously, it carries my name,” Louis says, “and a lot of it is inspired by my upbringing in my community and my culture, whereas SECTION 35 [a streetwear label Louis launched in 2016] speaks more universally. This one’s definitely much more personal. You’ll see imagery from my actual family, like my grandparents, in this collection.”
One piece, for example, bears the silhouette of Louis’s greatgreat- grandfather. Elsewhere, the Tanisi pattern, formed by Cree syllabic characters, is featured on a monogrammed knit sweater and an embossed tote. Tanisi, Cree for hello, captures the core of Justin Jacob Louis. These symbols dance across the fabrics, enhancing designs with key motifs from Louis’ Nehiyaw (Plains Cree) culture. “It’s kind of like saying hello to the world; very personal elements for my culture, and for my family, and my upbringing.”
Varsity jackets, a favourite item of Louis’, stand out in the collection. One is adorned with a horse that Louis says “is straight off my powwow regalia.” Another bears the words Made On Stolen Land: “These are made in San Francisco, so it’s in North America; it’s stolen land now,” Louis explains. Elements like these are subtle, he says, but meaningful. “[Fashion has] appropriated stuff for so long, right? And as Indigenous designers, we’re very well aware of that. Like, ‘why are you guys stealing our stuff?’ We can do it — come work with us, or let us do it.” It’s a nod to the collection’s core concepts — those of authenticity, identity, and appropriation.
Varsity jackets, a particular favourite of the designer, are a standout of the collection. One is adorned with a horse, while another bears the words Made On Stolen Land. “These are made in San Francisco,” Louis explains, “so it’s in North America; it’s stolen land.” It’s a nod to the collection’s core concepts — those of authenticity, identity, and appropriation.
“There’s always confusion around Indigenous fashion,” says the designer, “and mainstream people worrying about whether they’re appropriating by wearing it. But we really create our work for people to buy it, right? Appropriation is if you’re buying something done by someone who’s not Native, whereas we’re actually making something that’s authentic for the market. I think the industry wants something that’s authentic, and I think the only people that can really do what we do, as Indigenous artists, are our own people.”
The use of fur, Louis argues, is also a staple in his community, and to decry its use in fashion would be to disregard cultural context. “But we aren’t mass killing animals, and farming animals for their fur,” he adds. For Louis, production volume and process shape the ethics of material. If he were to use fur, he says, it would likely be a one-of-one project. “There’s a different, I guess, mindset of how we’re using those types of things.”
Instead, every material used in the collection is both organic and chosen for its heritage. This mindset shows in the soft hug of a knit sweater — it’s felt in the smooth warmth of a wool coat. Louis’ fabrics are fit for mindful consumption, infused with an almost salt-of-the-earth sincerity. “Organic materials and sustainability — it has a quality that lasts. With this collection, I wanted to make stuff that’s heirloom quality,” Louis says. That desire came from photos of Louis’ ancestors, sporting lengthy braids and three-piece suits. “Everything they used came from the land, right? It was all natural.”
Next autumn, the complete collection will launch, with a pledge to present luxury “reimagined through the Indigenous lens.” But even with this year’s smaller preview, the designer has still made an impact. “I think we did something really special,” Louis says, “and the most important thing was that we brought all our people with us. I hope to continue that with this work — elevating not just myself, but our community and our people.”
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