An Anishinaabe artist, designer and beader recently showcased on a prominent international stage.
Ocean Kiana, 23, had her work showcased at Paris Fashion Week. Her collection, called "Love on the Brain," was featured alongside designers from Cannes, Los Angeles, and Sri Lanka on Oct. 2.
Kiana hails from Biigtigong Nishnaabeg (Pic River First Nation) and Netmizaagamig Nishinaabeg (Pic Mobert First Nation), where she grew up “attending ceremonies, powwows, and being out on the land with her grandparents, aunties, uncles, cousins, mom and sister.”
As her website states, “[she] comes from a background of digital art, painting, drawing, beading, and sewing. Her Anishinaabe territory, community, and identity has a strong influence in the art she creates consisting of vibrant colours, florals and woodland style dancers.”
“My childhood dreams were always to be a fashion designer," she said. "It healed a lot of parts of me but also made me grow and learn so much as to what it truly means to be a fashion designer.”
Despite some self-doubt and initial hesitancy when she first started doodling designs in November 2019, Kiana eventually got an iPad and used it to create her first t-shirt designs.
Now, with her debut at Paris Fashion Week, she is sure to reach a new level of exposure.
"To be in Paris was very surreal," said Kiana.
However, this is not the first time she has had her work in the spotlight.
In November 2022, Kiana was selected as the featured artist for the Welcome Toronto Creators program for 2023.
The program, which is “designed for emerging creators who identify as Black, Indigenous, Women, Non-Binary, or a member of a racialized group between 16 to 29 years old,” gives chosen creators the opportunity to collaborate with the Toronto Raptors and represent their brand.
Her art was first showcased at a Raptors game on March 18.
While she continues to focus on working within northern First Nations communities, Ocean is also studying her bachelor of arts in Anishinaabe Studies (with a minor in Visual Arts) at Algoma University and Shingwauk Kinoomaage Gamig.
“I always looked up to so many other artists in northern Ontario and I am slowly becoming the woman that I dreamt about as a teenager,” said Kiana. "I’m still so young so I want other young Indigenous women to see what I’m doing and know that they can also chase their dreams too and not just fall into [a] stereotypical job — [they can] do what they love.”
Bringing her designs to a new stage, she is an example of a young, empowered Indigenous woman telling Indigenous stories on her own terms, representing and implementing traditions passed down and taught to her by her matriarchs.
“My biggest inspiration comes from my own people, our land and our stores as Anishinaabeg but also my own individual story as Anishinaabekwe and my experiences in community and on my traditional territory," said Kiana.
More of Ocean Kiana’s artwork and fashion design — including her new collection — can be found and purchased at her website www.oceankiana.com.