ASU engineering alum Loren Aragon once engineered military shock absorbers; now he’s dazzling the fashion world with inventive designs honoring Native American culture

The gowns feature bold, geometric patterns that wrap around the body and turn people into works of art. Look closely at the sharp lines and vibrant colors — the designs mirror those found on pottery from the Acoma Pueblo of New Mexico.

Fashion designer Loren Aragon, ’04 BSE in mechanical engineering, grew up in that pueblo and proudly brings his heritage to life through these creations. And he’s just as proud at being named the 2018 Couture Designer of the Year at Phoenix Fashion Week — the first Native American to receive that honor.

Aragon is the CEO and designer at ACONAV, a Native American couture fashion company based in Phoenix. He launched the company in 2016 with his wife, Valentina, who also attended ASU and hails from the Navajo Nation. The ACONAV (Acoma and Navajo) website describes its designs as celebrating the strength and empowerment of women through positive expressions that tie culture to modern style.

Interestingly, 10 years ago, Aragon was a mechanical engineer designing shock absorbers for military vehicles. And while a student, he studied robotics and designed prosthetics.

“Art and technology have always been in my background,” Aragon said. “I’m intrigued by how things are created. My grandfather was a mechanic who worked with gears and got dirt under his fingernails, and my mother was an artist and art teacher who came from a culture that was very active in pottery art. I’m like a reverse engineer — I research the past to understand how the origin of things affects the world today. My goal is to preserve our culture through fashion design.”

His work is attracting the kind of attention reserved for names on labels featured in chic boutiques. One of Aragon’s unique pottery-inspired couture creations was chosen to be displayed at Walt Disney World’s Epcot Center in Orlando, Florida. His work also turned heads at the 2019 Tony Awards, thanks to a striking gown he designed for Colleen Jennings-Roggensack, vice president of cultural affairs and executive director of ASU Gammage.

Jennings-Roggensack, the only Arizonan eligible to vote for Broadway’s highest awards, wore an eye-catching pattern Aragon calls “shattered details” printed on deep red cloth.

“The geometric pattern of fine-line details suggests the beginning of something new, like clouds breaking to produce rain,” he said. “The color red, like a splash of color through our blood lines, is an homage to my ancestors. Red also represents the missing and murdered indigenous women and girls, and I’m proud to honor them.”

The dress is accented by a cape that functions as a scarf, which is a nod to an accessory girls in the Acoma Pueblo wear to symbolize that they’ve become women. Plus, the cape playfully suggests a superhero, Aragon adds.

“Our culture is based on a matrilineal system that honors the power and strength of women,” he said. “We celebrate that women create life, and I emphasize that fact in my designs, that we look up to women.”

Jennings-Roggensack, who makes a point to always wear a gown to the Tonys that was created by an Arizona designer, says what impressed her about Aragon was he took time to get to know her before sitting down to the drawing board.

“I admired that he wanted to know who I was as a person,” she said. “Later, when he showed me the design, I immediately fell in love with it. It had a vertical feel that sweeps you upward. I would love to wear his other designs.”