Under the direction of Ruth Phillips, GRASAC (Great Lakes Research

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Over the past 15 years, contemporary Native Canadian fashion designers have been gaining increasing visibility and economic viability. Yet, their roles and purposes remain poorly understood. This article identifies a problem with conventional approaches to the question of Community Economic Development and Aboriginal participants in the garment industry in the New Economy. It proposes an alternative model based on the concept of the "radical entrepreneur," which incorporates ideas surrounding ethnic economies, "social entrepreneurship," symbolic capital, and "rootedness" in indigenous cultures and societies. Insights drawn from participant observation among, and interviews with, members of a Canadawide network of contemporary aboriginal fashion designers demonstrate that these "radical entrepreneurs" work as agents of social change both within their own indigenous communities and among national and international participants in a global fashion geography.

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