Orlando Dugi

Designer Orlando Dugi is influenced by his grandmothers, who were weavers and seamstresses. Diné fashion maintains a strong history of evolution in response to materiality. When the Spanish brought sheep to the Southwest in the late 1500s, Diné apparel largely transitioned from plant material and animal hides to wool. When non-Native traders brought machine-woven fabrics to the Southwest in the 1800s, Diné apparel shifted from hand-woven wool to machine-made cottons. Dugi’s blouse, made from silk, references velvet blouses his grandmothers sewed by hand. He hand-beaded his name in cursive on the back and nizhoní (nizh-OH-NEE) on the front of this garment. In Diné bizaad (Navajo language), nizhoní means beautiful, attractive, or good.