'These guys are really into it': Led by Dene fashion designer, Dehcho men sew their own vests
Men's sewing workshop was a chance for participants to connect with each other
Clad in a crisp white dress shirt, Wilbert Antoine, 77, puts the finishing touches on a vest he made.
"It's exhilarating," said Antoine, beaming with pride about his first sewing project.
His thoughts linger on his mother, a master seamstress who made her children moccasins and mitts before they left to residential school.
"It all got taken away," said Antoine. "I'm very, very humbled and grateful to be able to do the things that my mom had made for me."
Antoine is a member of Łı́ı́dlı̨ı̨ Kų́ę́ First Nation in Fort Simpson, N.W.T. He's taking part in a sewing workshop for men — a first for the community.
Going into the workshop, he brought a vest his mother made for him 60 years ago for inspiration: a cherished white garment with dozens of pink flowers hand-embroidered down each side.
Like his mother's sewing, the vest he's working on himself — machine-embroidered with blue flowers — will be one of a kind.
"I'm really excited about it," he said.
The First Nation put on the workshop in recent weeks to give men a space to learn a new skill and connect to each other and their culture.
They solicited help and expertise from Dene fashion designer D'Arcy Moses, a citizen of Pedzéh Kı̨ First Nation in Wrigley, N.W.T., a community of about 135 along the Mackenzie region in the Dehcho.
Under Moses' expert instruction, each person cut a vest's worth of melton wool, heavy satin lining and traditional smoke-tanned moosehide trim — all sized to fit them individually. They each came up with their own designs — Dene rose flowers, wolves, a tree of life — which were machine-embroidered to decorate their vests.
"It's the first of its kind that I've ever done, working with just men," said Moses, who has offered vest-making workshops for women, outside his work making Dene couture.
"It's not just grandmothers or aunties or mothers making vests for the men in the family, but these guys are learning how to make their own vests," said Moses. "It's groundbreaking. And these guys are really into it."
Sparking a revival of traditional clothing
Chief Kele Antoine wasn't sure how many men would sign up. They quickly filled the 10 spots.
He says he personally wanted to see a men's sewing workshop happen after hearing from elders a few years ago who were worried about the decline in people wearing traditional garments.
"That really stuck with me, you know, that we need to get back to that," he said, adding he hopes the workshop gains momentum so the First Nation can offer more in the future and spark a revival of traditional clothes.
Moses says some of that revival is already taking place in other corners of the fashion world, where Indigenous designs are gaining traction.
He says he's starting to see more young men wearing their vests — or the vests of their grandfathers — with pride.
"It's like the whole world is changing with regard to their clothing, right? So I think the time is right," he said.
'This is good medicine'
Deneze Nakehk'o, Łı́ı́dlı̨ı̨ Kų́ę́ First Nation's community wellness co-ordinator, drapes deep royal purple fabric over his shoulders. Two embroidered lightning bolts decorate each side.
"I'm going for the superhero look," he joked.
The lightning bolts represent his two children.
"They're like lightning bolts in my life, too," he said.
On the back are two stars for his parents and a moon phase to acknowledge his feminine side.
He says the participants are taking inspiration from each other's designs.
"We're all kind of swept up in each other's energy," he said.
"This is good medicine."
Nakehk'o says the workshop is about more than sewing skills. It's also a project meant to empower the men taking part.
"We have some brave people being very vulnerable, because sometimes you don't want to show up to something to see how little you know," he said.
"[It takes] courage to show up and say, 'Hey, I don't know how to sew but I want to make a vest.' And I think that type of energy is hopefully contagious to other people in the community."
For Wilbert Antoine, it's a learning experience — one that filled him with anticipation to see his final product.
"I'm very, very grateful for the opportunity," he said, holding up his finished vest.
The First Nation says this men's sewing workshop won't be the last.
Wilbert Antoine says it's been healing.
"I've been smiling the whole time."