New Brunswick designer heading to international Indigenous fashion event

When Ingrid Brooks found out she was selected to present her designs at International Indigenous Fashion Week in Paris, she was "excited all day."

"When I got the email and opened it up, I couldn't believe that I was going," Brooks said.

This will be her first time visiting Paris.

Brooks is the only one out of eight designers selected from around the world to represent both Atlantic Canada and Mi'kmaq art.

Brooks is from Indian Island First Nation in Kent County and was selected to present at the first national Indigenous Fashion week in Toronto last year.

Now, she's getting ready to travel to France this week, where she and two models will hit the international runway with 15 unique pieces.

"I want to share my culture with everyone, just to be there in the fashion capital of the world and to be onstage and show who we are."

Brooks's pieces include everything from capes and jackets to evening gowns and scarves.

Her favourite piece that she is bringing are the basket dresses. 

"Those are my favourite pieces because my ancestors did the same work years ago," she said. 

Each piece of clothing has a tag that tells the Mi'kmaq story connected to the symbols and artwork in the design.

"So when you buy a piece of my fashion you learn about us, and it's all about knowledge."

Porcupine quills

Some of Brooks pieces showcase porcupine quill art, which she said was practised by her ancestors as early as the 1600s.

For a time, there were only five people on the East Coast still doing it, Brooks said. "It was a dying art."

Now, she estimates there are up to 75 artists practising it in the Maritimes.

To make the pieces, the porcupine quills are sterilized, dyed and poked into birch bark to make designs. 

"You can make all different designs from flowers to hummingbirds to geometric designs." 

In 1995, Brooks and a friend took a three-month course where they learned the art form. They made jewelry, flat art and baskets.

Brooks previously worked in forestry as a chainsaw operator, but for the past two decades she has been making custom clothing in her home.

"One day I just had this idea. I said, 'I would like people to wear my artwork,'" she said.

The show is taking place on the first floor of the Eiffel Tower and each designer will get a photo shoot anywhere they want in Paris for a book the organizers are creating.

Brooks thinks she wants to shoot in front of the Eiffel Tower, but she will scout more locations before making her decision.