fbpx
facebook app symbol  twitter  linkedin  instagram 1
 

PHOENIX—Last night, Norma Baker Flying Horse, founder of Red Berry Woman, was chosen among three other designers as Phoenix Fashion Week’s Designer of the Year at the Chateaux Luxe. She was one of two Indigenous fashion designers chosen by the organization to participate in a 3-month bootcamp that challenged participants with a curriculum designed to advance each designer’s business in the fashion industry. 

“I’m beyond happy to receive this recognition,” said Flying Horse to Native News Online. “Thank you to my family, supporters, and the Phoenix Fashion Week for this incredible opportunity.”

As a result of being chosen as Designer of the Year, Flying Horse will be promoted by Agency Arizona, a marquee modeling and talent agency that will promote Red Berry Woman to international markets.

Red Berry Woman is also Norma’s Dakota name, and the business strives to incorporate traditional designs with contemporary couture garments that are ready to wear for both women and men. Norma Baker Flying Horse is an enrolled member of the Hidatsa tribe from the Ft. Berthold Indian Reservation and also Dakota Sioux and Assiniboine. Her clothing and designs pay homage to her cultural heritage. Her opening featured a dance demonstration by fancy shawl and northern traditional buckskin dancers. 

Never miss Indian Country’s biggest stories and breaking news. Sign up to get our reporting sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. 

Each year, organizers of the popular fashion event travel across the country to search for emerging designers to apply for Phoenix Fashion Week’s challenging 3-month designer bootcamp. This was Phoenix Fashion Week’s first live event since the beginning of the pandemic, more than 2 years ago. 

 “My Phoenix Fashion Week team and I were so impressed with Norma’s business first vision, hard work, and obvious keen eye for design. Red Berry Woman is blazing their own fashion forward cultural trail that our industry will have to try to catch up to,” Brian Hill, Executive Director, Phoenix Fashion Week.
 

“I’m so proud of her,” said Elmer Flying Horse, Norma’s husband, when Norma was chosen as Designer of the Year. “All of her work and sacrifice was all worth it.” The Flying Horse family drove from the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in North Dakota during a blizzard that crippled most of the state for several days. 

The Phoenix Fashion Week predominantly featured Indigenous culture in this year’s program. Saturday’s opening act Indigenous Enterprise, an Indigenous dance troupe that’s performing at the Met Gala later this year. In 2021, Indigenous Enterprise performed in the “Virtual Parade” for the Presidential Inauguration of Joe Biden.

The Phoenix Fashion Week is a curated two-day event that showcases models, designers, and fashion in the premier fashion event in the Southwest. The organization chose 40 models, female and male, to walk the runway for eight fashion shows a day in the chosen designers’ clothing.

 

This story has been updated to include a quote from the executive director of Phoenix Fashion Week. 

More Stories Like This

First American Art Highlighted at Artesian Arts Festival
New Book Features Professional Runner Jordan Marie Brings Three White Horses Whetstone,
Navajo Technical University Rodeo Team Competes at 2025 College National Finals Rodeo
Restoring the Voice of a Leader: Sitting Bull's Songs Reclaimed
New Exhibition of Contemporary Northwest Coast Indigenous Art Opens at the American Museum of Natural History

Help us tell the stories that could save Native languages and food traditions

At a critical moment for Indian Country, Native News Online is embarking on our most ambitious reporting project yet: "Cultivating Culture," a three-year investigation into two forces shaping Native community survival—food sovereignty and language revitalization.

The devastating impact of COVID-19 accelerated the loss of Native elders and with them, irreplaceable cultural knowledge. Yet across tribal communities, innovative leaders are fighting back, reclaiming traditional food systems and breathing new life into Native languages. These aren't just cultural preservation efforts—they're powerful pathways to community health, healing, and resilience.

Our dedicated reporting team will spend three years documenting these stories through on-the-ground reporting in 18 tribal communities, producing over 200 in-depth stories, 18 podcast episodes, and multimedia content that amplifies Indigenous voices. We'll show policymakers, funders, and allies how cultural restoration directly impacts physical and mental wellness while celebrating successful models of sovereignty and self-determination.

This isn't corporate media parachuting into Indian Country for a quick story. This is sustained, relationship-based journalism by Native reporters who understand these communities. It's "Warrior Journalism"—fearless reporting that serves the 5.5 million readers who depend on us for news that mainstream media often ignores.

We need your help right now. While we've secured partial funding, we're still $450,000 short of our three-year budget. Our immediate goal is $25,000 this month to keep this critical work moving forward—funding reporter salaries, travel to remote communities, photography, and the deep reporting these stories deserve.

Every dollar directly supports Indigenous journalists telling Indigenous stories. Whether it's $5 or $50, your contribution ensures these vital narratives of resilience, innovation, and hope don't disappear into silence.

Levi headshotThe stakes couldn't be higher. Native languages are being lost at an alarming rate. Food insecurity plagues many tribal communities. But solutions are emerging, and these stories need to be told.

Support independent Native journalism. Fund the stories that matter.

Levi Rickert (Potawatomi), Editor & Publisher

 
 
About The Author
Author: Darren ThompsonEmail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Darren Thompson (Lac du Flambeau Ojibwe) is a staff reporter for Native News Online who is based in the Twin Cities of Minnesota. Thompson has reported on political unrest, tribal sovereignty, and Indigenous issues for the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network, Indian Country Today, Native News Online, Powwows.com and Unicorn Riot. He has contributed to the New York Times, the Washington Post, and Voice of America on various Indigenous issues in international conversation. He has a bachelor’s degree in Criminology & Law Studies from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.