Victoria Kakuktinniq (born 1989) is a Canadian Inuk fashion designer from Nunavut. [1] [2] Under her label Victoria's Arctic Fashion, Kakuktinniq hand-stitches clothing such as parkas, kamiit (winter boots), and other accessories. [3] Her work has been described as a major influence in contemporary Inuit fashion. [4] [5] [6] Kakuktinniq has described her work as a means of preserving Inuit traditional skills of sewing and clothing production, which has historically been a significant aspect of Inuit culture. [3] [7] [8] In particular, she advocates for handmade fur garments as sustainable fashion. [9]
Kakuktinniq works in a combination of modern and traditional materials, including leather, sealskin, and fox fur. [10] [11] Her parkas incorporate elements of traditional Inuit clothing, drawing in particular from the amauti , a woman's overcoat with a curved hem and voluminous hood. [1] [12] Modern elements include asymmetrical zippers, corset-style lacing, and colour-blocking. [11]
Kakuktinniq, who is from Rankin Inlet, began designing parkas in 2012 after completing Miqqut, a cultural literacy program from Ilitaqsiniq (Nunavut Literacy Council), in which Inuit elders teach sewing skills to younger participants. [1] [12] [13] [14] She graduated from the fashion design program at MC College in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 2013 and began selling designs at trade shows and using social media. [7] [15] In 2015 her label was named Business of the Year at the Nunavut Trade Show & Conference. [16] She opened her first shop in Iqaluit in 2017. [13] [17]
Kakuktinniq has showcased designs at numerous fashion shows in Canada and abroad. Her first major show was What to Wear in the Winter at the Winnipeg Art Gallery (2015). [18] She presented a Spring/Summer collection at International Indigenous Fashion Week, a feature event at Paris Fashion Week (2019). Kakuktinniq collaborated with other Inuit designers who provided jewellery, accessories, and footwear for her outfits. [5] [19] [20] Later that year, Kakuktinniq co-produced Upingaksaaq Fashion Show in Iqaluit, which featured Inuit designers. [21] In 2020, she presented a Fall/Winter collection at New York Fashion Week. [20] She was one of five artists chosen to design a pair of mukuks for the Manitobah Mukluks 2021 Artist Series. [22]
In 2022, Kakuktinnniq partnered with winterwear brand Canada Goose on a capsule collection for the third iteration of Project Atigi, their collaboration line with national Inuit organization Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami. [23] Kakuktinnniq had been invited to work on the original iteration, but declined to focus on her brick and mortar store in Iqaluit. [9] The advertising campaign for the collection featured Inuit women as models: throat singer Shina Novalinga, actress Marika Sila and model Willow Allen. [23] Parkas from this collection were displayed at Iqaluit Airport in July 2022 for an exhibit curated by the Culture and Heritage department of the Government of Nunavut. [24]
Iqaluit is the capital of the Canadian territory of Nunavut, its largest community, and its only city. It was known as Frobisher Bay from 1942 to 1987, after the large bay on the coast on which the city is situated. The northernmost city in Canada, its traditional Inuktitut name was restored in 1987.
Rankin Inlet is an Inuit hamlet on the Kudlulik Peninsula in Nunavut, Canada. It is the largest hamlet and second-largest settlement in Nunavut, after the territorial capital, Iqaluit. On the northwestern Hudson Bay, between Chesterfield Inlet and Arviat, it is the regional centre for the Kivalliq Region.
Kinngait, known as Cape Dorset until 27 February 2020, is an Inuit hamlet located on Dorset Island near Foxe Peninsula at the southern tip of Baffin Island in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, Canada.
Jack Iyerak Anawak is a Canadian politician. He represented the electoral district of Nunatsiaq in the House of Commons of Canada from 1988 to 1997. He sat in the house as a member of the Liberal Party of Canada. Following his retirement from federal politics, he also served a term in the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut after that territory was created in 1999. He ran as the New Democratic Party's candidate for his old riding, now renamed Nunavut, in the 2015 election, but was defeated by Liberal candidate Hunter Tootoo.
Kenn Harper is a Canadian writer, historian and former businessman. He is the author of Give Me My Father's Body, an account of Greenland Inuk Minik Wallace, had a regular column on Arctic history in Nunatsiaq News and is a former landlord.
Nunavut is the largest and northernmost territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the Nunavut Act and the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act, which provided this territory to the Inuit for independent government. The boundaries had been drawn in 1993. The creation of Nunavut resulted in the first major change to Canada's political map in half a century since the province of Newfoundland was admitted in 1949.
Inuit art, also known as Eskimo art, refers to artwork produced by Inuit, that is, the people of the Arctic previously known as Eskimos, a term that is now often considered offensive. Historically, their preferred medium was walrus ivory, but since the establishment of southern markets for Inuit art in 1945, prints and figurative works carved in relatively soft stone such as soapstone, serpentinite, or argillite have also become popular.
Eva Qamaniq Aariak is a Canadian Inuk politician, who was elected in the 2008 territorial election to represent the electoral district of Iqaluit East in the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut. She was subsequently chosen as the second premier of Nunavut, under the territory's consensus government system, on November 14, 2008. Aariak was the fifth woman to serve as a premier in Canada.
Pat Angnakak is a Canadian politician, who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut in the 2013 election and reelected in 2017. She represented the electoral district of Iqaluit-Niaqunnguu until 2021; she resigned her seat in the legislature in August 2021 in order to run as a Liberal Party of Canada candidate in the 2021 Canadian federal election, but was defeated by Lori Idlout of the New Democratic Party.
Aaju Peter is an Inuk lawyer, activist and sealskin clothes designer. In 2012, she received the Order of Canada.
Simonie Michael was a Canadian politician from the eastern Northwest Territories who was the first Inuk elected to a legislature in Canada. Before becoming involved in politics, Michael worked as a carpenter and business owner, and was one of very few translators between Inuktitut and English. He became a prominent member of the Inuit co-operative housing movement and a community activist in Iqaluit, and was appointed to a series of governing bodies, including the precursor to the Iqaluit City Council.
Mumilaaq Qaqqaq is a Canadian activist and former politician who served as the member of Parliament (MP) for Nunavut in the House of Commons from 2019 to 2021.
Traditional Inuit clothing is a complex system of cold-weather garments historically made from animal hide and fur, worn by Inuit, a group of culturally related indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic areas of Canada, Greenland, and the United States. The basic outfit consisted of a parka, pants, mittens, inner footwear, and outer boots. The most common sources of hide were caribou, seals, and seabirds, although other animals were used when available. The production of warm, durable clothing was an essential survival skill which was passed down from women to girls, and which could take years to master. Preparation of clothing was an intensive, weeks-long process that occurred on a yearly cycle following established hunting seasons. The creation and use of skin clothing was strongly intertwined with Inuit religious beliefs.
Archaeological evidence indicates that the use of Inuit clothing extends far back into prehistory, with significant evidence to indicate that its basic structure has changed little since. The clothing systems of all Arctic peoples are similar, and evidence in the form of tools and carved figurines indicates that these systems may have originated in Siberia as early as 22,000 BCE, and in northern Canada and Greenland as early as 2500 BCE. Pieces of garments found at archaeological sites, dated to approximately 1000 to 1600 CE, are very similar to garments from the 17th to mid-20th centuries, which confirms consistency in the construction of Inuit clothing over centuries.
Lori Idlout is a Canadian politician who has served as member of parliament for the riding of Nunavut in the House of Commons of Canada since 2021. She is a member of the New Democratic Party.
Nicole Camphaug is a Canadian Inuk fashion and jewellery designer from Nunavut. She is primarily known for creating sealskin-covered shoes and other contemporary Inuit fashion items under the label ENB Artisan, which she runs with her husband. Camphaug uses commercially purchased shoes and covers them with sealskin and ornaments made from traditional animal materials like caribou, muskox, and narwhal. The pelts are sourced from Labrador. She also makes jewellery from bone, tusk, and similar materials.
Killaq Enuaraq-Strauss is a Canadian activist of Inuit and Jewish heritage.
Enooyaq Sudlovenick is an Inuk Canadian marine biologist. She was a recipient of the 2021 Weston Family Awards in Northern Research for her research into the health of marine animals of the Arctic.
Floe Edge: Contemporary Art and Collaborations from Nunavut was an exhibition of contemporary Inuit art and fashion staged by Quebec artist collective Axe Néo-7 and curated by Kathleen Nicholls of the Nunavut Arts and Crafts Association. The exhibition featured contemporary works from 18 artists in multiple media, including videos, drawings, and fashion. The organizers intentionally eschewed more traditional presentations of Inuit art such as soapstone carvings. Floe Edge originally appeared at the Galerie Axe Néo-7 in Gatineau, Quebec, from January to March 2016. The exhibition travelled to Canada House in London in September 2016. It was presented at the Urban Shaman Gallery in Winnipeg, Manitoba, from September to October 2017.