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Dec 23, 2023

Flower Moons and Water Lilies: Patricia Michaels goes to Cannes

Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” premiered to the biggest standing

Martin Scorsese's "Killers of the Flower Moon" premiered to the biggest standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival in 2023. The crowd stood applauding for nine minutes.

The 3-and-a-half-hour epic starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Lily Gladstone and Tantoo Cardinal, is based on David Grann's 2017 book, "Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI." It is set in 1920s Oklahoma, where the newly-formed FBI arrives to investigate what turns out to be a sinister operation. Scorsese worked closely with the Osage Nation during production, with Osage Nation chief Geoffrey Standing Bear serving as a consultant. See our in-depth look at the film and festival by Rick Romancito.

Apple and Paramount plan to release "Killers of the Flower Moon" in theaters on Oct. 20. It will then become available on Apple's streaming service at a yet-unspecified date, but with the inclusion of many Native actors, was a given that this year's festival was going to be different, especially on the red carpet.

Sometime during the last week in April, Patricia Michaels received a call at her home in Taos. Julie O’Keeffe who worked for Apple and Martin Scorsese on the film, needed a dress to wear to press interviews in Cannes. Two days later, Joeli Proudfit, a descendant of the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Mission Indians and a producer/director, called and asked if Patricia would dress Tantoo Cardinal for Cannes.

"I was a bit shocked to say the least," laughs Patricia, who was already on dress request number one. " But I jumped on a Zoom call with them, and listened to what Tantoo was looking for, and told them I’d do it."

For the next two weeks, Michaels and her niece Shundine Suazo hand-painted one of Michaels’ signature motifs, eagle feathers, on yards and yards of heavy silk. Because her home is tiny and lacks electricity and running water, her partner James Duran built her a long work table, which they placed outside under a canopy provided by a friend.

"We worked in the freezing rain and snow and when raindrops appeared on the feathers, I told my niece to pay no mind, it's the eagle's way, and anyway, I belong to the Water Clan," she said.

For over 25 years, Patricia Michaels has been producing bespoke haute couture that is both contemporary and timeless. Although she grew up in Santa Fe, as a child, she spent a lot of time at Taos Pueblo where her grandparents lived. She continues to draw inspiration from nature and her Native roots. Her PM Waterlily designs are informed by and reflect her heritage.

The multi-award-winning first runner-up on the Emmy Award-winning season 11 of "Project Runway" in 2012 was then invited to star in "Project Runway All Stars" Season 4. Her "Project Runway" debut was a first for a Native American designer. In 2014, she received the prestigious Arts and Design Award from the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian Board of Directors in New York City, as the first recipient of the award. Michaels was also the first Native American Designer to show during the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in NYC. In 2019, she was chosen as the artist to create the chair for Congresswoman Deb Haaland for the "A Seat at the Table" exhibit at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute.

A longtime featured artist in the SWAIA Santa Fe Indian Market, Patricia Michaels was Tantoo Cardinal's choice of designer for good reason. Tantoo Cardinal is a Canadian actress of Cree and Métis heritage, who has had roles in many films and on television, including "Spirit Bay," "Dances with Wolves," "Legends of the Fall" and "The Grizzlies."

"I felt so honored," Michaels told me when we talked over the phone last week. The designer had returned from Cannes, and gone straight to D.C. where she and her daughter had designed costumes for a dance performance at the Smithsonian by Santa Fe choreographer Dana Tai Soon Burgess.

"I didn't even consider the impossible logistics," she said of her Cannes experience, "I trusted it would work out and dove right in."

Once the fabric was painted, it was time to take the project indoors to accommodate a bigger crew, so Michaels took out a personal loan and rented a hotel room in town. She moved in for a day, her team in tow. Amy D. Mitchell, Edle Amerson and Patricia Morris helped with the sewing and construction, while her nephew Lyle Wright was onboard with silversmithing.

"There were 13 people, not including myself, helping to create these garments, then there were another seven suppliers for all the resources to create the garments and get me there," she recalled. It truly takes a village.

Getting her there hadn't been on the agenda until the last minute when they invited her to bring the clothes in person. This changed everything.

"The timing to orchestrate this project was very important because when the fabrics arrived there is still other work to be done," Michaels explained, "I would get one round done and work towards the next stages of the process.

It really becomes a dance."

All the while, she was aware she’d need to pace herself for the long-haul flight to Europe, where she’d hand-sew 20,000 stitches in three days.

"Tantoo and Joely couldn't have been more gracious and accommodating," she said, "I really only needed a place to hang the gown and hand-sew away." She also needed to fit Cardinal for other looks, preparing the actress for each day, while simultaneously working on the gown that would walk down the red carpet.

Laughing now, she can look back on the trip with mirth, but in the moment, it was a nonstop whirlwind of activity. For three days, she managed on just 12 hours of sleep, and that might be stretching it. She recounted the moment that she was finally left alone, in her beautiful balconied room overlooking the Cote d'Azur, having ordered room service, and looking forward, at last, to a leisurely meal, some alone time and a hot bath. As she sat down to eat, there was a knock on the door.

"One of the other Native stylists who was there, needed help — it was chaos, they told me, and they needed more hands to help with the actresses' dresses as they were being photographed on the red carpet."

She says her first reaction was, "Are you kidding me," but her better nature gave way, even though she had literally not bathed nor brushed her hair since arriving. "I brushed my hair, and went with them," she said, "and managed to hide behind the dress which is why there are no photos of me."

The dress, and the woman who wore it, were photographed and shared on the front pages of newspapers and on social media around the globe. Vogue magazine's headline declared, "The Killers of the Flower Moon Cast Spotlighted Indigenous Design at Cannes."

The swishing silk ballgown skirt, over tulle underskirts and a petticoat, emblazoned with the hand-painted eagle feathers, represented "her regal nature," Michaels explained, while the printed stole around her shoulders was an emblem of the struggles she had transcended in her journey to the present.

The dress brought a unique and dramatic moment to a scene dominated by the usual glitz and glam and was an authentic foil for the woman who wore it with innate grace and dignity.

When she returned to her room, Patricia got a call asking her to join the cast and crew for the after-party.

"My first thought, was I have nothing to wear," she told me, having left Taos with the bare minimum, due to the boxes she was already transporting, "but then I remembered in my exhaustion that I had a box of garments that had not been worn, so I cobbled together an outfit, and when they came to pick me up, there were a lot of surprised looks and oohs and ahhs…I guess I cleaned up okay," she chuckled.

"We laughed and encouraged one another a lot," she says of her time with the two women and all the other Native talent gathered at this year's Cannes Film Festival.

Besides Michaels, designer Dante Bliss-Grayson of Sky Eagle, another Taos resident we have featured in Tempo, showed his latest collection at the festival, on Taos models, including (Taos Municipal Schools Superintendent) Valerie Trujillo's daughter Jonnea, and Grammy Award-winner Robert Mirabal's daughter, Kona. Bliss-Grayson is Osage.

"It was paramount to those of us who worked behind the scenes to make sure they (the actors) were in a comfort zone that was a sanctuary for them," Michaels emphasized.

"Especially Tantoo Cardinal with her years of dedication and bravery, withstanding boundaries that have been set before Natives in our own country."

Sacré bleu! This is so wonderful Pat. Congratulations!

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