Representing on the Runway: Tanecia Rodriguez shows up for Indigenous Community at Fashion Art Toronto
During the upcoming Fashion Art Toronto, the Indigenous-owned apparel and accessory company Lesley Hampton will be running a special show, Lesley Hampton x @aaniin, on Thursday, April 27 at 7 pm, at the Black Creek Assembly, 31 McCormack St. in Toronto. What’s this got to do with Centennial College? Outside of being something of interest to our Fashion Business and Management students, the college will have a representative at the show: Tanecia Rodriguez, our Indigenous Outreach Coordinator. And her role? As one of the models, walking the runway. Here’s her story, how she got involved, and how it all leads back to our students.
Connecting Indigenous students to opportunities
Tanecia has made a long career out of supporting Indigenous peoples in Canada.
“Fresh out of university, I got a full time position with Indigenous Services Canada,” she says. “I worked there for many years, then I took leave from there after one of my babies arrived, and I ended up working for the Métis Nation of Ontario. I was an employment counselor with them for six years, and now I have resigned from both of those positions to come and be the Indigenous Outreach Coordinator at Centennial.”
“It's about connecting Indigenous students and learners with different resources or pathways into postsecondary,” she explains about her current role as Indigenous outreach coordinator. “We understand that not everyone is going to be ready to get into college right away. So we meet the learner where they are, and then we come up with a plan and strategy of how they can get involved in postsecondary.”
The path to the runway
For Tanecia, it began with an open call over social media.
“I saw the post calling for Indigenous talent,” she says. “And I do have a history of local modeling. A few years ago, I walked in another show during New York Fashion Week. I knew that I really wanted to reply, because I knew how big Lesley Hampton is in the Toronto area and in the Indigenous community in general.”
An unexpected final push came from her own mother, who knew walking the runway would be something she enjoyed.
“She was just like, Tanecia, I really think that you should do something for yourself, and do something that you would have been interested in a couple of years ago,” she says. “And I saw this literally a day or so after she had said this to me. I was like, you know, this looks like something I would have done before, so I'm going to try it out.”
And what’s an application for a fashion show look like?
“We had to fill out an application form and say our measurements and all that kind of stuff,” Tanecia explains, “and send them a headshot as well as a full body shot. And then you either had to go in person and do a walk for them, or you had to submit a video. I submitted a video.”
An Indigenous showcase
Tanecia’s application was a success, and soon, she’ll find herself walking the runway. And she’s not the only Indigenous person to be doing so. In fact, that’s the point of the show.
“It's an all Indigenous cast,” Tanecia says. “So, First Nations, Métis and Inuit.”
“I'm really excited about the show because of the different representation,” she continues. “I am Afro-Indigenous. And so it's very important to me to see myself represented in Indigenous media, Indigenous education, I want to see all the faces of Indigeneity. And so that's why I'm most excited for this, because we will get to see a more representative Indigenous grouping than we're accustomed to seeing normally.”
An important message
There’s more that Tanecia is there to promote than Indigenous representation, though. She’s hoping that the visibility of her role in the show will help encourage Indigenous students to connect with her at Centennial, so she can link them up to the resources and guidance they might need.
“I'm putting my face out there right now, and I'm representing Centennial as a way to connect with the students who are at Centennial who are Indigenous,” she explains. “There aren't many who are connected with the Outreach office right now. And I do hope to change that. And at least by me putting my face out there, they know that I exist, that I'm here and that there is someone who is able to help them if they need it.”
And beyond her role at Centennial College, she hopes to encourage students, both Indigenous and otherwise, to move out of their comfort zone.
“It shows them that they can do something like this,” she says. “They aren't limited to just what is here at school, they're not limited to just what they see in their communities or anything. We are allowed to dream big. We are allowed to see ourselves on big stages. And if we want to put ourselves out there, then there are opportunities out there.”
And if you want to see this opportunity, be sure to snag some tickets in advance of Thursday’s show!
To get connected to Indigenous Outreach, you can contact Tanecia Rodriguez at TRodriguez@centennialcollege.ca, or call 416-289-5000, ext.53385.
Written by: Anthony Geremia