Nine Indigenous designers turned Monterey Court into a runway July 25, using turquoise face paint, seashell jewelry and vivid gowns to tell a message designer and organizer Dot Pallanes has spent her career chasing: Indigenous people are not relics of the past, but very much of the present.

"Flood the Runway" was Pallanes' first fashion show. Attendees enjoyed food and live music from Sonoran Reign, Jaz Singer and DJ Mizsokde while celebrating the work of designers Yisela Nuñez, Charmayne Dewahoya-Kane, Liz Quiroga, Diondre Andres, Natalie Granados Vasquez, Katrina Antone and Vougler Arts.

Makeup artists including Brianna Rodriguez painted more than 30 models' faces with emerald greens, pearlescent white markings and turquoise lines.

The show opened and closed in a concert format, with a stage set up in the center of the court to allow viewers to watch from all angles. After Chama Leonna and Pallanes introduced the event, the show began, with models circling the dining audience around the entire venue as lights shone around them.

The colors were vibrant and real, from vivid reds to earthy browns, matching the stone backgrounds behind models as they posed. As the natural lighting faded, the outfits' tones grew more dramatic in the dark. The venue played into this, allowing seashell necklaces to glimmer in the soft lighting, as designers showed everything from elegant draping gowns to detailed denim bell bottoms.

"We're showcasing indigenous talent in different mediums," Pallanes said. "In contemporary life, because indigenous people are now."

Jack and Jevus, co-founders of the art house and collective Vougler Arts, celebrated the two-year anniversary of their magazine by remaking a red dress from their first fashion show at Capricorn Market.

The magazine works with the International Indigenous Fashion Council and collaborates with artists like Pallanes throughout Southern Arizona to promote Indigenous fashion and connect with the community.

Jevus, the brand's pop artist, drew on nature and visions from his dreams to create the gowns shown on stage.

"There's so much art here that is publicized and shared with everybody," Jack said. "And we wanted to carve our space and reclaim fashion for the indigenous community."

Dante Biss-Grayson, founder of the International Indigenous Fashion Council, started the first Indigenous New York Fashion Week last year.

Pallanes and other designers featured in the show are part of Southern Arizona's very active chapter of the council.

"We are in an indigenous fashion renaissance," Pallanes said, adding that she worked to make sure each member of her team felt connected to the event, as they designed the show from the ground up. "We're going through really ugly things in the world right now, and what holds us together is our desire to create."

Pallanes hoped that by showcasing Indigenous people in different modern mediums, the audience would connect with the idea that Indigenous people are "now."

"We are dressing ourselves in a way that's respectful to sacred Indigenous things," Pallanes said. "We are not dressing in relics but we're telling a contemporary story that fits all bodies yet is unique to each indigenous nation represented."

Indigenous culture and identity were amplified in each piece, with different sewing techniques and symbols from the Tohono O'odham and the Pascua Yaqui nations and others, visible on the runway.

In a constantly evolving world, Pallanes said she knew the designers could represent themselves better than anyone else.

At the end of the night, rain sprinkled down on the venue as designers closed their personal stalls, a moment truly symbolic of the show's title, "Flood the Runway."

Lily Cottam is a journalism major at the University of Arizona and intern at Tucson Spotlight.

Tucson Spotlight is a community-based newsroom that provides paid opportunities for students and rising journalists in Southern Arizona. Please consider supporting our work with a tax-deductible donation.