Far North Fashion Show celebrates Alaska cultures

A model is silhouetted as she prepares to strut on the catwalk at the Far North Fashion Show, held April 15, 2026, at the Anchorage Museum. The fashion show is part of the annual Arctic Encounter Summit. (Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

By Yereth Rosen

Alaska Beacon

Attendees of the Arctic Encounter Summit, held this week in Anchorage, took a break from heavy discussions about climate change, national security, shipping safety and other pressing concerns on Wednesday night to enjoy something more fun: high fashion.

The Far North Fashion Show, now in its seventh year, showcased the work of Indigenous designers from around Alaska.

“To be honest, the Far North Fashion Show is the highlight of so many attendees’ experiences, myself included,” Rachel Kallander, Arctic Encounter’s founder, said in brief remarks at the start of the show.

A model poses on the catwalk at the Far North Fashion Show, held April 15, 2026, at the Anchorage Museum. The dress she is wearing features red handprints on the collar, symbols of missing and murdered Indigenous people. (Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

The celebration, which featured a catwalk bathed in pastel lights, pulsing music and refreshments, required a lot of work to pull together, Kallander told the audience.

“We have designers and models who have put in hundreds and hundreds of hours into what you are about to see,” she said.

Beyond their good looks, the clothing on display incorporated messages. Many were about traditions. Some were inspired by the animals that are important to different Indigenous Alaska cultures. A dress designed by Jackie Qataliña Schaefer, who is Inupiaq and originally from Kotzebue, paid homage to the caribou, for example. Another dress was designed with a train that resembled a whale fluke. And models, as they took their turns on the catwalk, sometimes made moves that are part of traditional Native dances.

Some of the works shown at the event had a more somber message. They incorporated the red handprint that symbolizes missing and murdered Indigenous people.

A model walks on the catwalk at the Far North Fashion Show, held April 15, 2026, at the Anchorage Museum. The fashion show is part of the annual Arctic Encounter Summit. Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

Designers and models were from Inupiaq, Athabascan, Tlingit, Yup’ik and Aleut cultures, among others.

Along with Schaeffer, who is director of climate initiatives at the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium in addition to being an artist, the designers whose works were shown were Maria Shaa Tlaa Williams of Southeast Alaska, Marisa Taylor of St. Lawrence Island, Carlene Thayer of Unalaska, Alana Moses of Fairbanks, Reine Pavlik of Yakutat, Jeremiah James of Yakutat and Christina Waska, originally from Newtok.

The Arctic Encounter Symposium, which opened on Wednesday, runs through Friday. It has attracted attendees from 30 countries, Kallander said.

• Yereth Rosen came to Alaska in 1987 to work for the Anchorage Times. She has been reporting on Alaska news ever since, covering stories ranging from oil spills to sled-dog races. She has reported for Reuters, for the Alaska Dispatch News, for Arctic Today and for other organizations. Alaska Beacon is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.