This is the last post on the matter.

Yes, Glacsy is holding my personal designs hostage and refuses to release them.  They alledgidly claim that they came out to return my stuff to me but no one was home to receive said belongings. Especially when it was advised that they not appear without first notifying me by phone or email as they were not welcome without invite.   According to bulletin posts last weekend-which they claim they dropped by (June14),  I was busy working on an order due last Monday (June 16th).  I was here all day that day.  As a matter of fact I was sewing in front of the TV which is conveniently located by my front doorstep.  Also, the drapes were drawn open and I was facing said door stop and at 2PM-the alleged time of first arrival, I did not see anyone pull up.  They also claim a 10PM visit as well and also chose to implicate one of their models in this alleged visit.  I still was in front of the TV-not sewing but, watching a mini-marathon of “Kimora: Life in the Fabulous Lane.”  Before that, I was watching “The Medium”-cause I love me some Medium!  It was an episode I missed when it originally aired-ROSANNA ARQUETTE!

I did send them emails and over the phone asked them to mail out my stuff and relayed to them that would be the best, most convenient, and cheapest way to draw this matter to a close.  They refused to comply.  When expressed to Tionne Linder her response was, “You can pay for the postage!”  My response was, “Fine, send it C.O.D.”  Her response was that I was being childish and unprofessional and that I <b>HAD</b> to come out to there residence and receive my property myself.  I did express to several people I felt that this was an attempt at luring me into an unsafe situation for their final confrontation-they concurred.

I was doing fine getting on with the business of Nizhoni Way Apparel and Wednesday evening,  I receive a slue of insulting and threatening emails from Ray Linder about law suits.  I was confused as to where this was all coming from.  Then it was suggested that I check and see what the latest news was on NAFW.  To my surprise, they had absolutely no designers booked for the show.  The only clothing that was to be seen was from Glacsy.  It had become apparent that the handling of designers (some of whom appeared at L’Oreal Fashion Week, Los Angeles Fashion Week, Phoenix Fashion Week, and Scottsdale Fashion Week) had taken a turn. 

The one complaint that they told me as to why  they decided against doing the show-the outrageous request of Glacsy to drop their lives and attend their model workshops.  One designer was touring California and could not make the workshops-they were dropped from the show.  Another designer was in the process of moving and could not attend because they were given a deadline to be out of their apartment or they would be charged a whole nother month’s rent, they couldn’t make the workshop-they were dropped from the show.

I had gotten top quality designers for NAFW not to mention a bevy of size 2, 4, and 6’s-which is the preferred sample size of most designers.  They were all coming out from all parts of the U.S.  But because Glacsy decided to pull a nasty power play and demand that models and designers travel all the way out AT THEIR EXPENSE to window rock to attend their workshops, all decided that it just was not worth their efforts.  Especially those who have worked major industry fashion shows-<b>and again, by industry, I do not mean, Santa Fe Indian Market, Gathering of Nations, the Window Rock Museum, The Window Rock Sports Center, or The El Morro Theatre in Gallup.</b>  They all had to work and could not get the time off.  They rely on thier jobs and businesses to keep them out of the red as they pursue crossover success-which I am also in pursuit of.

I did not tell anyone not to do the shows or to cancel.  As stated in earlier post, I encouraged fashion talent to participate and even continued to sell the show to other designers.  I even stated that I would like to see Native American Fashion Week prosper and succeed.  This current event has taken a vast step back-in my opinion, without the content of real design talent, a fashion week will on succeed-something Glacsy refuses to see.

The future of NAFW  is questionable as of now.  I do hope that in my endeavors to promote and move into producing fashion shows that these last few months, will not reflect on my events badly.  My hope is that people will be able to make the distinction between my work and those I am working with from Glacsy.

I have fully moved on but according to emails sent to me this past Monday Glacsy refuses to let it go.  My hope is that they will realize their errors and continue with honesty and integrity.  I have wondered as a result of these dealings if Glascy had been embellishing the business practices of Native Model Studio and Larry Price–I wonder if my involvement with their smear campaign was yielded by half or untruths on part of the owners of Glacsy.

New Horizons!

As I turn the page on a new chapter of the “Nizhoni Way” story, I have learned a great deal about the Native American Market. I have always contended that if I were going to advice someone when they first enter the market, I’d let them know the truth to help them better navigate through the BS!

First thing, DON’T TRUST ANYONE WITH LESSER TALENT THAN YOU! They are only looking for a way to use you to make a name for themselves. Second, Never share your ideas or thoughts with anyone–no matter how nice they try perceiving themselves, they are only listening to see what they can use against you and what ideas they can claim as their own to try and make themselves seem more legit. Third, LISTEN TO THOSE AROUND YOU! If everyone around you is telling you not to work with someone because they are not professional-then move on! Again, they only want to use your talents to make them seem more professional. Fourth, and probably the most important, if they do not have the background experience don’t waste your time. You’ll spend more time catching them up to you while ignoring your needs. If I had reasoned with the fourth logic, I could have saved myself so much time, energy, and money!

Business is an ugly thing. It’s not all puppies and unicorns. You can try willing it all you want but that’s the way it’s going to be. The bottom line is money, and If I had kept that in mind I could’ve saved so much of it! Donald Trump once said that success is not measured in the victories but in the defeats because it’s from the defeats that you learn the most. I’ve also heard that from other successful entrepuneurs.

That almost seems kind of depressing but I do understand the logic. I know what to do and what not to do. It has made me stronger and has taught me to up my own personal best–to challenge myself to see what I’m really capable of.

New Network; New Ideas!

I’m not a stranger to working with new networks.  I am entering a new phase and feel that this is the evolution of what is to come next.  I have gone from humbly offering the public my skills to hoisting my ideas and notions of style and fashion on everybody.  I am doing more couture stuff and hope to continue elevating the levels of design in the Native Market while (finally!) getting for myself what others have been using me to get for themselves.

I am going to promote Nizhoni Way Apparel with great fervor.  I want to get back to the money making aspect of why I started this.  I spent so much time the past couple of years worrying about promoting shows for other people or fending off the pariahs of the Native American Market that I’ve lost the attention to design I have always had in the past.

I am looking out for myself and those who have vested interests in Nizhoni Way Apparel.  People have been asking “if these people are creating a ‘fashion’ name for themselves and growing and making money-AND, have no fashion experience why can’t you do the same?”  I thought, “why not!”  I did attend Fashion Design School and I did work in the actual fashion industry and have far more knowledge of the Fashion Industry than most out there.

I am continuing with NuGen Productions and I do hope to represent fashion talent and eventually nurture the future of the Native Market.  Get people use to the notion that high fashion shows are done to make money for designers and not a means to promote a calendar, new t-shirt lines, or modeling agencies.

The Nizhoni Way Ingénue “program,”  I’m not sure if I will continue with that.  Its basically something that I started back in 2006 to mentor young fashion designers who were interested in entering the fashion field but weren’t quite sure how to go about it or what it entailed.  I have worked and featured two young designers who are currently making themselves known in the Native American Market.  I do feel that to change the market to a viable commodity, I do have to take an active role. The Ingénue program was my way of doing that.  Giving young individuals the opportunity to see exactly what the whole process requires.  If a am going to continue the program, I will be making drastic changes in how I deal with the new young designers and a selection process would go into effect.

Designing Nightmare!

This is a dress I designed while I worked with Navajo Spirit back in 2002. The original design was quite dated and looked like something Blair Warner would have worn in “The Facts of Life!” I felt that if we were going to be designing something for royalty then it should be something modern and stylish and something she could pull out of her closet ten years from now and still feel like it’s something she could wear.

I know that it was a challenge getting this dress made. Not because the pattern was particularly difficult but because of the staff at the time were quite lazy and really didn’t want to undergo any new endeavors. Wow, I made this dress super simple to sew up and there were so few pieces. It was a simple sheath design with cutouts in the back. All in all, it had a total of 4 self pieces, 5 interfacing pieces, and 3 lining pieces. It was a simple side zipper-no invisible zippers! The seamstress actually did not know how to sew it up! It was ironic because she use to walk around talking smack-off handedly, about my skills as a seamstress, patternmaker, and designer. I did a contoured collar and she insisted that the collar was all wrong because it didn’t fit her fat neck! I told the boss that it wasn’t made for her neck but for Onawa’s neck which was slender and swan like.

The seamstress threw a hissy-fit over the dress and collar! I just threw my arms up and the air and told the boss, “Let her sew it up however she wants! It’s only your reputation that’s going to suffer-not mine!” Of course, the seamstress got so frustrated with the collar and dress she gave up! She left for the day and told me before she left- “You didn’t even make that collar right! It’s your problem don’t bother me with it!”

Stress time? Oh, did I mention that Onawa was coming in that day for a fitting and we had no dress for her to try on! Well, I simply got up from my design table calmly walked over to the industrial sewing machine and took the pieces of the dress and proceeded to sew. An hour before Onawa came in, I had a complete dress! Zipper and everything! The only thing the seamstress managed to sew up was the dress darts! I had time to clean up the dress (cut off stray threads, do the hem-invisible hem-BY HAND, and steam the thing)!

I remember when she walked in. I gave her full on VIP treatment! I remember she mentioned she like this “NO DOUBT” t-shirt I was wearing. She commented that she was going to see their concert-I don’t remember where she was going to attend the concert-I was nervous about the dress. She was my first VIP client with Navajo Spirit. She like the entire outfit I wore that day-I told her I designed it myself. She said, “Oh, you’re the designer?” I told her, “Oh no, I’m the assistant designer.” At the time, I was doing all the designing. Onawa came in, tried on the dress, and was smiling ear to ear! She loved it and it fit her to perfection! The only thing wrong was that the seamstress had not done the darts right. So all’s the alterations it needed–fix the darts.

I of course took care of that myself because the seamstress was not going to like the fact that I not only did my job, the job of my boss but her job as well and would purposely ruin the dress just to make her self seam more important. The boss pretty much left up a lot of the designing to me while I was there. I gave her advice on how to improve her business and she knew that if she wanted to take everything to the next level she would have to make the changes I was telling her. She did do one thing before I left that I felt was taking a step in the right direction. She got rid of the seamstress in question and hired a seamstress who had actual production experience. She use to work as a seamstress for a major clothing line. I was impressed and got along fine with her!

Working there was okay. If I had to do it all over again, I’d re-staff and demand that the boss train me on the cash register. The employees there showed up physically but mentally they were all vacant. Which would explain the overcharges made to the customers and the cash shortages in the dailies. On one event, the second in command (the cutter), confessed that she came into work intoxicated and even passed out at the cash register while customers were coming in! One of the customers woke her up! The staff I worked with made that job hell! Even with the setting my own time card, vacation time whenever I pleased, and extra long lunch breaks-the job just was not worth it.

I did see my ex-boss while I was out doing my shopping this past Monday. One word-AWKWARD!!! I was ready to say hi to her and let bygones be bygones-all the accusations about me stealing patterns and unsubstantiated rumors that I was using her designs to start Nizhoni Way Apparel. What did she do when she noticed it was me. She turned her nose up in the air and flipped major attitude! I should have tripped her! Ha, ha! No, I wouldn’t have done that. She is still a Navajo Woman and deserves respect-oh, not from me but from someone-you knew I was going to stick that in! LOL! All jokes Aside from all the jokes, if it had not been for me working there, I would not have had the courage to start Nizhoni Way Apparel, DKC*fx, and NuGen Productions!

Below is a sketch of the gown both front and back!  Both front and back pieces are all one piece.  With the exception of the diamond stairstep piece.  That was separate.