Sky-Eagle Collection made its second appearance at New York Fashion Week on Feb. 8.
The show included a poem read by Dante Biss-Grayson called “Unforgotten” about Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, with an appearance by his sister, Osage artist Addie Roanhorse.
Osage models Gigi Sieke and Madeline Gray Goodfox walked the runway. Sieke wore an Osage wedding coat and Gray Goodfox wore a buckskin dress. Both models also appeared in Biss-Grayson’s new line, the Red Line Collection.
Miss Universe Canada Ashley Callingbull was the featured model and walked the runway.
Biss-Grayson was pleased with how the show went.
“It was really great because this is the second time we’ve been there,” he said. “We did it classically where we had a new collection called the Red Line Collection, and we actually released it there. Normally with fashion shows, you present your work and then there’s buyers to bring awareness to the brand. It was really cool to be able to be in a position where it takes eight or nine months to design all the work and then present it as a new collection.”
Biss-Grayson loved the location.
“We also produce our own shows, so this is not our first rodeo,” he said. “It was in this really amazing old church near Washington Park. The whole area was just classic New York.”
The day of the fashion show was busy, with each model receiving full hair and makeup, fittings and photo shoots.
Sky-Eagle debuted 24 pieces. The new line included dresses, tracksuits, trench coats and ribbon skirts.
“We had over 24 looks and then backstage we sequence them and cycle them,” he said. “Having 24 looks is a drop in the bucket really, because we’ve had a show where we had a hundred looks; and we really pushed ourselves to the limit on that one. Something like this was pretty straightforward to do.”
Sieke loved the experience.
“I never modeled on such a big stage before,” she said. “I never thought I would ever walk at New York Fashion Week. This was such an awesome opportunity. I felt so extremely grateful that Dante and Yanti (Biss-Grayson’s wife) asked me to be one of their models.”
Sieke said Native clothing and art is more important now than ever before.
“A lot of the people in attendance really appreciated how we brought awareness to Native cultures,” she said. “It’s the Native Fashion Renaissance. I think this is a huge stride in the right direction. We are all artists, and being able to showcase that and our culture on the runway was just a dream come true.”
Osage tribal member Danielle Cass traveled to New York with her granddaughter and her granddaughter’s mother to watch the fashion show and support Sky-Eagle and other Osages involved with the show.
“When I see Sky-Eagle designs, you know it’s Dante’s,” Cass said. “But this new collection, this Red Line collection, you can see that it’s a driving force. There was something for everyone. There was casual wear, there was sport-type wear, there was dress-up, there was just loungewear, there was going out, formal wear. He literally had everything wrapped in each different piece.”
One moment that stuck out to Cass was when Addie Roanhorse ripped up treaties on the stage while Biss-Grayson was reading his poem.
“When I saw Addie walking, I could see she had papers in her hands,” she said. “When she got closer, I could see that it was treaties. To be there and see Addie doing that and ripping those treaties up, those broken treaties, my first thought was it was an emotional moment. You wanted to shed tears.”
Through Roanhorse’s clothing at the fashion show, she brought awareness to Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women.
“I’m watching her walk and rip these [treaties] up,” Cass said. “And on the back of her is a cape that has the handprint of the missing, murdered Indigenous women and people. There’s so many different things that tie into that and seeing her wear that and knowing that there’s so much that goes into that movement of losing our people like that. And then these treaties that were broken and we see the different things that have happened at boarding schools, and all this is coming to light now.”
It was a moving moment for Cass, and also a learning experience for her granddaughter.
Roanhorse and Biss-Grayson were inspired to rip up the treaties based on a video from New Zealand, where Maori tribal members ripped up treaties in front of the Parliament causing it to shut down.
“Right before we got on our flight, Dante texted me and said, ‘The person I had in mind for that backed out last minute, I need you to do it,’” Roanhorse said.
It was an unforgettable experience for Roanhorse as she walked around the stage, ripping up the pieces of paper.
“At some point my hands started shaking,” she said. “Halfway through I was like, ‘O.K., another corner, here we go.’ I was making eye contact and I could see people starting to get tears in their eyes.”
Roanhorse said the treaties were essential to add to the runway show.
“It’s just so much that’s going on with the world right now and the broken treaties, it’s a constant thing that we as Natives think about,” she said. “We as those Osages think about and know about. I think it paired with the poem just so beautifully. It was lovely. It was performance art for sure.”
Hud Oberly, a New York-based Osage fashion designer and model, attended the Sky-Eagle fashion show to support Biss-Grayson and all the Osages involved.
“I thought it was great,” Oberly said. “I pride myself on supporting Indigenous artists that come through New York, whether Osage or any other tribe; whether that’s fine art or fashion or any other artistic medium, but especially when it’s our Osage people that come to New York and bring our culture here, it’s always a special moment.”
Oberly enjoyed seeing traditional Osage clothing on the NYFW runway, as it’s not something that is seen every day.
“It was great to just see because he brought Gigi who wore a wedding coat, and Madeline Goodfox, who was in a buckskin dress,” he said. “All that’s just great to see. It’s still kind of a shocking moment to think about it in the moment because Osage wedding coats are walking a runway in New York.”
With the Native fashion renaissance going on, it helps Native designers be creative and showcase their culture through their designs.
“I think it’s important that we showcase our culture through fashion,” Oberly said. “Because fashion is the ultimate communicator. You can communicate and express yourself in so many different ways. It’s limitless how you can express yourself through fashion. And so, I think that’s a way that we can express all the different facets we have to us.”
Biss-Grayson has had success incorporating Osage culture into his fashion designs and holding a place in the Native fashion renaissance.
“I’m Osage and growing up Osage, it’s made me who I am,” he said. “I’m very honored to be able to bring new fashion to the global stage. One that I’ve taken the design work from a lot of our patterns and the plains tribes and infused it into couture and new Native fashion. This is all part of the Indigenous fashion renaissance. Being able to be the Osage in these spaces is quite amazing and I’m very honored about that.”
Sky-Eagle has multiple runway shows coming up this year. Sky-Eagle will be at the Res 2025 fashion show in Las Vegas on March 12. In April, Sky-Eagle will be headed to Sweden to participate in a fashion show at the Museum of World Culture.
The new Red Line collection can be viewed at skyeaglecollection.com
