WE ROAR Magazine issue 04 - Magazine - Page 63
Photo: DazX
Kim Coltman is a Cree Metis woman and
Founder of Fashion Speaks International. She
began her career in modelling in Vancouver, BC,
in 1972 and went international by 1976. In
1983, Kim founded the first Indigenous
modelling agency on Turtle Island, and she
immediately signed on with Sundance Models.
In 2015, Kim founded Fashion Speaks
International in Kamloops, BC, to address the
issue of MMIW. She has dedicated every show
she has produced to raising awareness and
educating people all over the world about this
ongoing crisis. Most recently, she completed a
documentary called Indigenous Voices in
Fashion, featuring 6 Indigenous fashion
designers from all backgrounds on their journeys
to healing through the art of fashion.
She began teaching modelling in 1983 at
Sundance Models. Then, when the owner of
Sundance Models passed away, and the agency
closed, Kim started to teach for Vogue Models,
which later became Rochelle Models. Eventually,
she opened her own modelling schools in
Edmonton Alberta, where she had moved to be
closer to her mother.
Her goal is to provide Indigenous people with
equitable access and opportunities in the fashion
industry.
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