From Powwows to the Pages of Vogue, Fashion Designer Agnes Yellow Bear Creates from the Soul

Indigenous clothing designer Agnes Yellow Bear comes to the industry not from fashion school, retail jobs, or a connections in the industry. Her start came from a desire to connect her children with culture.

“I started making ribbon skirts and sewing because I wanted my kids to dance powwow, but I couldn’t afford the outfits for them. So I started making them myself,” said Yellow Bar.

From those humble beginnings, Yellow Bear has grown ReeCreeations – culturally-centred, hand-made clothing designed to empower Indigenous people and amplify their voices and visibility.

In a short time, Yellow Bear’s ReeCreeations has made a big splash in the fashion industry. Following the most recent Indigenous Fashion Arts Festival in 2024, several of Yellow Bear’s designs were pictured in major fashion site and magazine Vogue, as well as InStyle magazine and Elle Canada.

Following the Indigenous Fashion Arts Festival, her very first fashion show, she has designed for six additional fashion shows.

“When I see my stuff on the runway or a magazine, I want to cry because of that little girl in Saskatchewan who carried shame and doubted herself, who didn’t know her place in the world,” said Yellow Bear.

“Now I’m able to create things, share my story, and remind others that we are worthy.”

Yellow Bear comes from Kawacatoose First Nation in southeast Saskatchewan, and now resides with her husband and kids in New Town, North Dakota, about 140 kilometres south of the Canada-US border.

Growing up, Yellow Bear’s culturally-minded and activist parents required their daughter to wear ribbon skirts and traditional clothing to rounddances, powwows, graduation ceremonies, and other formal events.

“I would get so angry because it wasn’t cool. And growing up in central Saskatchewan, all the racism I experienced as a child deeply affected my self-esteem. There’s that internalized shame of being Indigenous,” said Yellow Bear.

“When I became a mother, I wanted to change that narrative. I wanted my children to hold those parts of them, to know they have a right to take up space, they have a right to wear the things that connect them with their culture without feeling shame.”

Yellow Bear said she was ‘clueless’ when she began to sew, but self-taught with some guidance of family and friends around her. She became proficient at making ribbon skirts, and in 2019, made 150 ribbon skirts for the Mamawe! Mekow-wishwewin-miyomachowin gathering for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and 2Spirit People (MMIWG2S+).

Yellow Bear has an aunt that is one of the 4,000 individuals on Canada’s list of MMIWG2S+. She felt personally called to advocate and highlight the national crisis, spending years making ribbon skirts and working with other families impacted by the tragedies. But that calling began to weigh on her.

“Doing so much work closely with the families for years, that contributed to the heaviness I felt. I was drained and tired,” she said.

“I decided I contributed as much as I can for what I have. And decided to do things that bring me joy.”

Yellow Bear started to extend her designs, in addition to ribbon skirts, designing other culturally infused clothing like dresses and jackets. To her surprise, she was not only accepted into the Indigenous Fashion Arts Festival, but the cover-photo for the festival was one of her dresses.

“I was blown away to see my dress plastered all over downtown Toronto,” she said. “I said to my husband, ‘the little girl spirit in me is screaming, mom look at me’. That was a big moment. I felt embraced and accepted.”

Yellow Bear is featured on an upcoming episode of Michaella Montana’s fashion show, ‘Behind the Seams’, where she shares her story and beliefs in uplifting Indigenous artists.

“We’ve always had to be loud and remind people that we are here, that we should be at these tables, that we should be included and embraced,” said Yellow Bear.

“Our clothing has always been a part of who we are. We’ve always looked spectacular and I think it’s such an honour to be able replicate these designs. I’m just so proud and in disbelief sometimes, but here we are.”