Artists and Designers

Photo by: Nadya Kwandibens / Artist: Celeste Pedri-Spade

Kaska Dena / Canada

Sho Sho Esquiro

Discipline:

Fashion

Sho Sho Esquiro (Kaska Dene/Scottish/Cree) combines the inspiration of traditional Indigenous textiles and modern urban culture to create art in the medium of fashion. Profoundly inspired by her childhood in Ross River and her connection to her extended Indigenous families and communities, artist ShoSho Esquiro’s stunning garments have been shown in Canada, New York, Paris, Santa Fe, and are sought after by museums across North America. Using beadwork, porcupine quills, and moose-hair tufting, details are appliquéd with great care and consideration for its origin. The choice of materials honours the designer’s Indigenous teachings that everything from the earth is to be used with respect. Inspired by her current city life in Vancouver, BC and her upbringing in the Yukon Territory, Esquiro melds these natural materials with alluring colour palettes, flawless design and classic silhouettes in a contemporary way.

ShoSho has won numerous awards, including: 1st Place Clothing Competition, Santa Fe Indian Market, 2013; Best of Division Bead Work, 22nd Annual Eiteljorg Indian Market and Festival, 2014; Honorable Mention, Santa Fe Indian Market Clothing Competition, 2015; and 1st place at the Autry Museum in L.A. 2015; 1st place in Textiles at the Heard Museum in Phoenix. She has also represented Canada twice in Paris, France with fashion shows on the Eiffel Tower in 2014 and 2019. Her work is in the collection of the Yukon Arts Centre and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, and has been featured in Native Fashion Now!, a national traveling exhibition organized by the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts.