In the new series North of North, which debuted on Netflix thsi week, Siaja (Anna Lambe) is a young Inuk mother who is trying to reinvent herself in her tiny Arctic community—a fictitious town called Ice Cove, located in snowy Nunavut, Canada. As she snowmobiles around town in frigid conditions trying to grasp her own independence and direction, it’s hard not to take notice of the fabulous array of coats that she wears: traditional Inuit parkas called amautis or qulittaqs, which many other on the show rock too. “Our goal was to get it right culturally, and for it to be beautiful and modern,” says the show’s lead costume designer, Debra Hanson. “And to make the characters come alive.”
Working closely with Keenan Nooks Lindell, an Inuk artist and close consultant on the series, Hanson’s costumes are a meaningful highlight of the new project. The cast’s colorful and bold collection of parkas, often lined with a variety of different furs, reflect the traditional outerwear that the Inuit community has long been wearing up in the north to stay warm. “Our communities are unique, because lot of people still sew a lot of their own clothes, like the parkas, mitts, hats, or sealskin boots (kamiks),” says Lindell. “Every community is vibrant and alive through their clothing.”
The costume team wanted to ensure that the show’s parkas were historically accurate, yet innovative and modern, too. To nail this approach, Hanson and Lindell worked with several contemporary Inuk designers to create special parkas for the show. Among them were notable names like Winnie Nungak, and Victoria Kakuktinniq of Victoria’s Arctic Fashion, who has displayed her work at fashion weeks such as Toronto’s Indigenous Fashion Arts. “Victoria really changed the game with making parkas more fitted and having that real Inuk look, and still having it be warm and fashionable,” says Lindell.
Some parkas were made entirely out of furs including seal skins, or fox and wolverine furs. The material reflects how many Inuk people depend on hunting for survival, utilizing the meat for food, and furs for warmth. “We still have a deep connection with the wildlife, because we know we re just one part of our environment,” says Lindell. “We have a lot of respect for our wildlife. You use what you catch.” Other parkas were more DIY’d; Hanson found heavyweight parkas from brands like Carhartt and Arctica, and added fur trimming onto them—a popular practice within the local Inuit community. “I loved that it was modern, yet deeply entrenched in culture,” says Hanson.
Another main focus for the stylish series? The handmade Kamik boots that the cast wears—a tall mukluk style made entirely out of seal skin or caribou. “The Kamiks took a long time to do. They re all made by individual artists—your mother, your grandmother, your best friend,” says Hanson. “It s a lot of handwork.” Given the variety and amount needed to outfit a whole show, the costume team worked with local artists to borrow or have custom styles made. The couture boots even required special VIP treatment on set. “The Kamiks have to be stored in the cold, since they’re naturally tanned seal skin,” says Lindell. “We kept them in a freezer on set.”
The hand-beaded earrings, meanwhile, proved to be another sartorial feat for the costume team. (It wouldn’t be an Indigenous TV show without some statement earrings.) “They gave us a separate budget for the earrings,” says Hanson. Again, it was important for the costumer to highlight the work of Inuk artists specifically, given the theme of the show. “We would go to different art festivals that were happening across the north, and buy earrings,” she says.“I could not believe how many pairs we had—and how many pairs we used. Right to the end, I was still saying, ‘I need more earrings!’ They became their own characters.”
Consider the new series as the perfect fashion show to binge watch on your next Netflix-and-chill day. For Hanson and Lindell, they hope the series introduced viewers to a whole new world of style and culture. “This is one of the first times that Inuit fashion will be showed on this big of a stage,” says Lindell. “Inuit clothing is very modern and constantly changing. I’m excited for people to be introduced to it.”
