Mahota Textiles Founder Makes Debut at the MET

Pictured: Margaret Roach Wheeler and son Diamond Wade Wheeler standing by the display at the MET

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is one of the world's largest and finest art museums. Its collection spans over 5,000 years of world culture, from every part of the globe including even the smallest of reaches such as Sulphur, Oklahoma.

Mahota Textiles founder Margaret Roach Wheeler was the designer and weaver of the remarkable piece titled “Tribute to Diamond”, which is about her late father Diamond Roach. The piece is known as a caftan and is handwoven to capture the poetry of the blanket.

Margaret’s piece was on loan to the MET as part of the Costume Institute’s In America: An Anthology of Fashion, the second portion of a two-part exploration of fashion in the United States.  

  Other designers such as Manonik, Halston, Michael Kors, Valentina, Vera Wang, and Adolfo are just some of the others selected to also be a part of the exhibit. The exposition debuted in September last year and concluded in September of this year.

Margaret was one of only four Indigenous designers selected to be a part of the ensembles. She along with Okuma, Evan Ducharme, and Section 35’s Justin Louis had the opportunity to showcase their unique looks and talent and show the world what an Indigenous design can look like without remaining in the steadfast notion and ideology of the modern-day stereotype.

“My father, Diamond Roach, died in 1993 at the age of 91. He was an honorable man and an exceptional father who was very respected in his community, so I wanted to create a garment to honor his memory. I designed my father’s robe to be a pillar of white on the body when the arms are crossed in front, but when the model opens her arms wide, all the color is exposed to show all the beauty inside. The garment was perfect to symbolize my love and admiration for him” she stated.