Fifteen designers have registered for a unique cultural competition being held at The Centre Mall in Saskatoon Thursday night.

Andrea Custer H. Clarke and her partner own stores in Prince Albert and Saskatoon called Indigenous 1st Designs and they are shining the light on the cultural significance of ribbon skirts with the Ribbon Skirt Masters Competition.

Clarke says ribbon skirts are usually made out of cotton fabrics or satin fabrics, usually Indigenous in nature and the design is significant to the artists of these skirts.  She says, “they all come with stories, they all come with something that’s really important to the designer herself.”

If you are new to ribbon skirts and their significance, this is also an opportunity to learn about the tradition with Elder Maria Linklater providing background on what goes into making a ribbon skirt.

After the fashion show and the winners have been decided by the judges, the skirts will be put on display at Indigenous 1st Designs where they can be viewed and you can bid on the skirts until June 29th.

Top prize $1,000, 2nd place $750 and $500 for third. Half the proceeds will go to the designer and the other half will go to the Saskatoon Food Bank.  Clark says there are food insecurity issues and there’s a lot of people that need that support.  A portion of the prize money was provided by First Nations University of Canada and Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation.

There are five judges for the event including Saskatoon Media Group’s Jerad Bowes.  The Ribbon Skirt Masters Competition gets underway at 6 p.m. at Centre Mall (Centre East) in Saskatoon.