Maricopa designer heading to Phoenix, New York City fashion weeks

Fashion designer Loren Aragon of Maricopa is having another busy season.

Fresh out of the Phoenix Fashion Week Shop Garment District at the Moxy Tempe, the native of Acoma Pueblo, New Mexico, will be taking his newest designs to PLITZS New York City Fashion Week for the second time for a showcase Sept. 10. He will then return to Arizona for Phoenix Fashion Week in October.

Aragon and his wife Valentina own ACONAV LLC. It was the first Native American company invited to the Phoenix Fashion Week Emerging Designer Bootcamp. That four-month event included four challenges for the 11 designers. Four, including ACONAV, are from Arizona.

“I am impressed with Loren’s attention to detail, high quality design and strong work ethic, ensuring success for this brand,” said Brain Hill, executive director of Phoenix Fashion Week.

The category winners in couture, contemporary, lifestyle and accessory from the Emerging Designer Bootcamp will be announced each night of Phoenix Fashion Week, Oct. 13-15 at Talking Stick Resort. Prize packages are valued over $10,000.

In the meantime, the Aragons are heading back to New York to bring his Acoma-inspired fashions to an international audience once again. See the video from  his PLITZS showcase last February.

“I want to present the pottery culture of my Acoma people in a wearable art form,” Aragon said. “I wish to present exquisite luxury couture women’s evening wear with the message of ‘Cultural designs embodied in timeless elegance’ and the idea to evoke empowerment of the feminine spirit.”

Aragon is a graduate of the Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering from Arizona State University. He uses the patterns from the Acoma pottery as a basis for the textile prints he creates. His mother was a seamstress, and he also learned silversmithing, which he uses in creating accessories.

During New York City Fashion Week, ACONAV’s runway showcase will appear at 2 p.m. on Sept. 10 at New York’s Hotel Pennsylvania.

Learn more about Aragon’s fashions at Aconav.com. Check out Phoenix Fashion Week at PhoenixFashionWeek.com.