Angela DeMontigny

t smart and style savvy when it comes to delivering marketable merchandise. As an Aboriginal designer, DeMontigny captures the true essence of her culture using traditional materials and design motifs. She uses techniques like bead-work and the manipulation of hides, skills that were passed down from her ancestors, to create a wardrobe for the modern fashionista. In 1995, from her home base in southwestern Ontario, Angela first launched her exclusive line of original, one-of-a-kind, leather and suede garments that have been sold in specialty boutiques and galleries throughout North America, and Europe. Since then, the Angela DeMontigny line has evolved to include accessories: a new collection of luxury, leather handbags that marry exquisite, European craftsmanship with DeMontigny’s signature, edgy style, along with beautiful leather belts, matching cuffs and original, custom belt buckles that feature semi-precious jewels and crystals. Angela’s celebrity as a native fashion designer is evident today not only because of her burgeoning and successful career, but also in part due to her regular speaking engagements and advocacy of other native artists and designers. She has become one of the leading, elite aboriginal designers in Canada and her appeal is often to the entertainment world, attracting accomplished singers, performers and celebrities. Her wardrobing credits & interviews include the National Aboriginal Achievement Awards, a variety of national television shows, the Aboriginal Music Awards, Fashion Television, Breakfast Television, Aboriginal Peoples Television Network, and was a feature of ‘Success Story’ a regular CTV News segment; her designs have been showcased in numerous fashion and aboriginal magazines in Canada and the U.S. such as Flare, Chatelaine, Women’s Wear Daily, Aboriginal Voices, Spirit Magazine, Cowboys & Indians, Tribe, True West and the current winter issue of Say Magazine. Most recently, Angela was the subject of a half hour documentary produced by the NRK television network in Norway which was shown throughout Norway last fall, has been commissioned for a 2nd consecutive year to custom design the outfits for the Calgary Stampede Royalty and will have her latest designs featured in the upcoming, 2010 Fall Fashion Issue of COWGIRL Magazine based in the U.S. Angela has established herself as a pioneer in the aboriginal fashion industry and has used her extensive marketing and industry knowledge to produce, international-quality fashion events to promote Canadian native designers within the mainstream industry. As President of iKANADA Productions Inc., she plans to expand the scope of her events into Europe and is now delving into television production where she will be able to reach a more global audience. Her largest production to date, was the highly successful, Aboriginal Designer Showcase - 4 days of glamorous runway shows featuring the best of Canadian Aboriginal Designers from across the country - during the first week of the 2010 Olympic Games held in Vancouver last February. She also received numerous accolades for her production of the ‘FIRE & FASHION LIVE 2009’ show - a large-scale, outdoor Indigenous Fashion Event held at the Harbourfront Center in Toronto during the Planet Indigenus Festival in August 2009. Her experience as a designer, manufacturer, wholesaler, exporter and retailer as well as her keen understanding and passion for this niche market give her the knowledge necessary to assist with establishing new markets for aboriginal cultural products. On other fronts, DeMontigny was instrumental in developing the ‘Canadian Aboriginal Design Council’, a national organization established to promote, market and develop new markets for native designers both nationally and internationally and continues to produce professional shows/events which garner major, mainstream media attention. She recently sat as an industry advisor for the ‘Aboriginal Cultural Industries Advisory Group’ – a national initiative chaired by Heritage Canada, created in order to research, address and implement authenticity and protection measures for aboriginal cultural producers; is a voting member of ’Trade Team Canada’, has been involved in aboriginal tourism marketing initiatives over the years and is a regular guest speaker with regards to aboriginal business issues, marketing and exporting.