My husband, Pierre, and I were on vacation in Santa Fe, NM. This was an adventure for us, a place where neither of us had ever been. So in true explorer fashion, we decided to traverse every Native American museum, every art gallery, and absolutely EVERY restaurant that claimed to have the best red and green salsa.
Of course you can’t go to a place with this much cultural history, and not visit the oldest historic monuments. As we approached, we saw this incredibly stately, and beautiful image. It was a statue of the first Native American promoted to sainthood, Kateri.
As we got closer, her foot plate read: "Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha... embracing Kindness, Forgiveness, Love, Compassion, and Joyful Peace."
Though born long ago, she continues to represent thoroughly modern ideals. Even her physical appearance, with shapely curves, is modern and more prevalent today. When I paid closer attention, I realized Kateri embodied many of the attributes of the women in my life that inspire me everyday.
I’ve always wanted to design a collection for those women, one that is an extension of how I envision them, strong, beautiful, intelligent. So I though it only fitting that the name of the line should be a derivative of our beloved Kateri. In addition to her other saintly duties, she also presides as the guardian angel for each Katera Collection, providing protection and an extra dose of sanity through shipping delays, fabric defects, and the general “stuff” that happens.