SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Fourth-generation Northerner and fashion designer Jamie Look first attended the Great Northern Arts Festival five years ago as an apprentice to Gwich'in traditional seamstress Karen Wright Fraser.

Designer Jamie Look models a necklace fashioned from gold and silver chain and accented with caribou antler. The piece is part of her latest Northern couture line of body adornment, titled The Rain, The Thunder and The Sun. - Daron Letts/NNSL photo

Look used that opportunity to display some of the wearable art she created while studying fashion design at La Salle College in Montreal.

This year Look is attending the festival as a featured artist.

She is presenting her latest Northern couture line of body adornment, titled The Rain, The Thunder and The Sun.

"It's about going through processes, going through storms, and seeking out light and sun in the end," she said. "I am working with a lot of gold, silver and gun metal."

The work also contains semi-precious stones and Swarvoski crystals.

"Swarvoski crystals come in beautiful shapes and sizes and rich colours. They reflect light really well."

Luminescent purples and yellows find their way into the collection alongside indigenous Northern elements such as carved caribou antler, whale bone and walrus ivory.

Look has not only established herself as a cutting-edge designer since graduating in Montreal, she has also produced a string of theatrical fashion shows in Yellowknife, including a stunning event held during the last Arctic Winter Games. Her art pieces will be included in the Inuvik festival's fashion show this month.

Look often challenges herself by melding styles and ideas with other artists. She said she anticipates working with other artists in Inuvik.

"The festival is 10 days long and it's filled with multidisciplinary artists from all across the North. I'm really looking forward to hopefully doing some collaborations and learning new skills and experiencing that whole collective environment of artists working together."