May Ningeongan is a fashion designer based in Salliq, NU. Together with her mother, Elizabeth Ningeongan, she owns and operates Ujaraatsiaq's Garments, specializing in sealskin and leather garments, including parkas, dresses and vests.
Her mother has been a major influence on Ningeongan’s practice as a designer, as well as teaching her hand-sewing and pattern-making techniques. Sewing techniques and traditions are something of a family legacy: in addition to sharing textile skills and collaborating on designs, the mother–daughter business takes its name from May Ningeongan’s Inuktitut name and namesake—Ujaraatsiaq—after her grandmother, Annie Eetuk. [1] “The techniques move from generation to generation,” Ningeongan says, reflecting on the importance of sharing these skills, “and we're still keeping it going. I have a daughter and I'm hoping to pass on the knowledge that was passed on to me, and keep it going.” [2]
Ningeongan’s designs meld traditional techniques with modern silhouettes and materials—using sealskin, leather, and fur, as well as waterproof commander fabric to create durable parkas, and embellishing them with accents like fringes, florals, ulu designs and tunniit motifs. “Traditionally Inuit women had tunniit tattoos,” Ningeongan explains, speaking about how tunniit have inspired her, “and there is a lot of meaning in those designs.” This application of tunniit patterning to clothing—together with the careful hand-sewing of the leather and sealskin portions of their designs—makes Ujaraatsiaq’s Garments particularly unique. May and Elizabeth Ningeongan work together in a highly collaborative way: brainstorming designs, drafting patterns and sharing the sewing work on different portions of the garments.
As she has developed her fashion brand and grown her business, Ningeongan has taken advantage of many opportunities to share and develop her work: in 2020 she was a participant in EntrepreNorth’s Circumpolar Fashion Cohort, and in 2022 she presented her work as an artist at the Adäka Cultural Festival in Whitehorse, YK. She has also been selected to present at the Indigenous Fashion Arts Biennial in Toronto, ON, in 2024. Ujaraatsiaq’s Garments continues to build beyond the parka designs for which the mother-daughter duo have become well-known, with plans to develop an expanded line of unique clothing. “I’m nervous about it,” shares Ningeongan, tempering her excitement for broadening her work’s audience. “But I feel our work should be seen and heard.”
This Profile was made possible through support from RBC Emerging Artists.