The world of fashion can be as exciting as it can be challenging. For those who enjoy the spotlight, presentations, and culture, it can be one of the best opportunities of their lives.
Certainly, they proudly carry their roots not only in their blood but in their hearts. They show the world what they represent and what can be learned from them, such is the case of Skylar Evans, one of the most prominent Native American models in the Native American community and a great influence in non-Native fashion as well.
In addition Evans is driven, multi-talented, unique and possesses a rare beauty of kindness and strength. In an exclusive interview for perlarico.com, Evans takes us through her wonderful world of fashion and her personal growth.
Evans is of Oglala Lakota descent one of the seven tribes of the Lakota people. She is also adopted Seneca, Wolf Clan, with good memories she goes back to her life as a child.
1. What was your childhood like?
Skylar: I grew up on a horse farm. I started riding before I could walk. Unlike other children, I spent my days working the farm and exercising the horses.
2. How was your relationship with your parents?
Skylar: My dad was a very well-known cardiologist and my mom is a product designer. Both of my parents are a rags to riches story. They both came from nothing and worked hard to live a very successful and blessed life. They are both my inspiration for how driven I am.
3. How did this curiosity for fashion begin?
Skylar: I was scouted when I was 4 years old for GAP and then again before I went to college both times and turned it down for an athletic career and Olympic aspirations.
Skylar emphasizes, “My mom was a successful model for Helen Wells Agency while my dad was in medical school. I was scouted a third time by a photographer who thought my look was unique and he asked me to do a shoot for a magazine. I thought I’d give it a try and it took off from there.”
4. How difficult was it for you to break into the fashion and modeling industry?
Skylar: I am not the tallest model, nor do I have blonde hair, but to break into this industry you have to have some serious grit and the ability to take direction very well. I always go the extra mile and that’s what’s given me success as a model.
5. Have you faced any challenges as a Native American model?
Skylar: The world thinks we don’t exist and we are the most underrepresented racial group. I find that people want a piece of me, almost like a fetish, because I’m Native but they never want to help me and that’s what I have faced being a Native model.
She is a supermodel and an extremely strong asset to her people and to the modeling industry. Evans has just signed with Wilhelmina Models and Evolve LA after a killer year in 2024 debuting at Paris Fashion Week and Miami Swim Week, landing publications in ELLE and VOGUE.
6. How was it like to be part of the Paris Fashion Week and Miami Swim Week runway?
Skylar: Both Miami and Paris are huge stages, sometimes bigger than New York. It was an honor to represent my community.
7. What do you enjoy the most about the runway?
Skylar: I enjoy the collaboration between the models and designer and I enjoy my responsibility to perform and showcase the clothes so the audience leaves with something to remember.
In addition to her modeling career, Evans is a multi-talented individual. She is a highly educated young woman with multiple college degrees, a Chipeta Trading Co. and Native American Jumpstart scholarship recipient, and a recipient of the Dorothy MacRae Hyman Award from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Not only that, she is an exceptionally gifted horsewoman who trains horses and currently competes mainly in the Hunter Jumper discipline on the A circuit.
8. What is your ultimate career goal?
Skylar: My goal is to graduate from PA (Physician Assistant) school and combine my Registered Dietitian credential with a PA, approaching medicine from a nutritional perspective. I would like to specialize in Oncology and focus my attention to the healthcare inequalities on the reservations.
9. You carry many hats, from figure skating, painter, model, Olympic contender, how do you manage it all? Is there something you have not tried yet and looking to dip your toes into?
Skylar: Music, I played guitar in high school, wrote my own music and I have been told I have a good singing voice and I’d love to try it out. I was a previous Olympic contender back in 2016. My moto is ‘Try Everything’. You only have one life, so why not achieve everything you want to achieve? That’s exactly what I am doing.
10. What would be your advice to other inspiring Native American young girls looking to follow your footsteps?
Skylar: Be proud of your culture, and remember your ancestors.
“Carry their strength and never be afraid to be unapologetically you in every way. People might tell you that you don’t belong. We belong here and everywhere, and everyone deserves the chance to be a superstar.”
Skylar Evans, supermodel
11. Who do you dedicate your success to?
Skylar: My mom and dad. They both taught me hard work, dedication, and to follow every one of my dreams.
Thank you for speaking with us and sharing your incredible career as a model and your represention in the world of modeling, which can be inspiring for other young women who have the dream of starting out in fashion.
To learn more about Skylar Evans journey follow her on Instagram here.
