"Wearable Muscgoee History" Fashion Designer, Leslie Deer on Mvskoke Iconography & Wearable Art

Leslie Deer spent 12 hours a day beading a dress to submit for Santa Fe Indian Market and missed the entry deadline. That dress is now in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. Leslie Deer is a Muscogee and Italian apparel designer whose work applies ancestral Mvskoke motifs: sun circles, wind designs, bandolier-bag-inspired silhouettes to contemporary women's wear. In this live artist talk recorded at the 5th Annual Msvkoke Art Market at River Spirit Casino Resort in Tulsa, Oklahoma, produced in partnership with The Muscogee Nation, Leslie talks about 10 years of building her line, what it means to be a third-generation sewer rooted in Southeastern Indigenous iconography, and why she believes this design tradition could disappear if no one works to keep it visible. In this episode, Leslie covers: How returning to her ancestral Mvskoke motifs through dance regalia sparked her entire design practice What makes Southeastern iconography distinct from Plains and Southwest imagery, and why most people have never encountered it The sun circle, wind design, and bandolier bag motifs she uses and what they communicate The Santa Fe Indian Market dress that missed the competition deadline and ended up in the Smithsonian Permanent Collection Why she uses natural fibers, works toward sustainable local manufacturing, and tries to minimize her carbon footprint What winning First Place in Best of Division at Santa Fe Indian Market meant after she made it a lifetime goal "All of our motifs and iconography had a representation, had a meaning, had a communication or a story associated with it. It is telling you information if you know how to read it." Find Leslie at la.deereapparel.com and on Instagram at @la.deere 🎙 Recorded live at the 5th Annual Msvkoke Art Market | Tulsa, Oklahoma Produced in partnership with Muscogee Nation 📺 Subscribe to Artisans of Nations for more Indigenous artist talks 🎧 Listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts: search "Artisans of Nations" 📷 Follow us on Instagram: @ArtisansofNations #IndigenousApparelDesign #NativeAmericanWearableArt #MuscogeeNation #MvskokeCulture #SoutheasternNativeArt #NativeBeadwork #IndigenousDesigner #SantaFeIndianMarket #Smithsonian #BandolierBag #CulturalPreservation #IndigenousWomenArtists #ContemporaryNativeArt #MvskokArtMarket #ArtisansofNations