The Fashion Collection
Groundbreaking creations by Cherokee fashion designer Lloyd Kiva New form the foundation of the Heard Museum’s fashion collection. New forged an indelible career in Scottsdale in the 1950s through silk-screening unique designs on cotton and silk fabrics, which he sold individually or made into dresses, shirts and coats. He created a unique line of handbags, some of which have clasps designed by the innovative Hopi jeweler Charles Loloma. Many handbags were custom made and included a label with the buyer’s name. Other items in leather designed by New included hats and neckties.
Margaret Wood (Diné/Seminole) began her career as a fashion designer in the 1970s. A range of her early creations are depicted in the book she wrote titled Native American Fashion: Modern Adaptations of Traditional Designs. Wood donated her collection to the Heard Museum, further growing the museum’s small but important collection. Recent additions include original works by Betty David (Spokane), Orlando Dugi (Diné), Jamie Okuma (Luiseño/Shoshone-Bannock) and Virgil Ortiz (Cochiti Pueblo), among others.
Fashion Collection Highlights
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Jamie Okuma, Luiseño/Shoshone-Bannock, b. 1977, Skirt and jacket, 2013. Gift of the Heard Museum Council, 4755-1 -
Lloyd Kiva New, Cherokee, 1916-2002, Tuxedo jacket, 1960-1970 -
Betty David, Spokane, 1938-2008, Jacket, 1999 -
Lloyd Kiva New, Cherokee, 1916-2002, Handbag, c. 1955, Gift of Miriam J. McClennen, 4365-1 -
Virgil Ortiz, Cochiti Pueblo, b. 1969, Skirt design for Donna Karan, 2003 -
Toni Williams, Arapaho, b. 1953, Creator’s Calling, 2015 -
Kenneth Williams Jr., Arapaho/Seneca, b. 1983, She Holds the Stars, 2016 -
Orlando Dugi and Benjamin Harjo, Diné, b. 1978 and Seminole/Absentee Shawnee, 1945-2023, She Holds the Stars, 2016 Gift of the William S. and Ellen Taubman Foundation, 4877-2 -
Margaret Wood, Diné/Seminole, b. 1950, Navajo Blanket Dress Adaptation, c. 1981 Gift of Tom Galbraith and Margaret Wood
About the Heard Museum Art Collections
The Heard Museum art collection concentrates on the lives of Native peoples and consists of more than 45,000 objects. The two focal areas of the collection are comprehensive cultural collections from the Greater Southwest and contemporary native fine art from North America. Key collections include Hopi katsina dolls; Navajo and Zuni jewelry, Navajo textiles, Southwestern ceramics from prehistory to the present and baskets from the Southwest, California, the Great Basin and the Northwest. The approximately 4,000 fine art works in the Heard Museum collection document the American Indian Fine Art Movement from the 20th century to the present, and include work by some of the finest historic and contemporary American Indian artists.
