Zoot Suit Fashion Show, Classic Car Exhibit Celebrate Chicano Culture at Denver Art Society

Cherie Niola comes from a family of classic car enthusiasts. Her father was one of the founders of the Colorado chapter of Viejitos Worldwide, an international car club. “He wanted boys, but he raised two girls,” Niola says. “My sister and I build cars. My uncles and my dad would dress in zoot suits, and we started wearing them, too.”

About a decade ago, Niola put on the Selena Car and Art Show. “They didn’t really accept lowriders in the community because it was a ‘gang thing,'” she recalls. “We had to show them that this is our family, our culture and our art.” That’s something Niola is still pushing for: From cruises with Compas Colorado to a zoot suit fashion show at Santa Fe Nights, she and others are working to keep Chicano culture and history alive in the Mile High City.

After several years of planning and organizing, Santa Fe Nights brought art, photography, music, a classic car exhibit and more to Denver Art Society in the Art District on Santa Fe on September 20.

“It’s Hispanic Heritage Month, so we thought it was the perfect timing to do this event,” says Niola.

The fashion show’s headliner was Jay Suavecito Salas, a zoot suit fashion designer and owner of Original Suavecito Clothing Company, which used to have a store in the arts district. Sauvecito Salas says that the store is now located around 50th and Washington, and does a lot of online sales. “When you think about gentrification, things change,” he says, adding that Niola’s “still keeping the culture of the neighborhood alive here so that people don’t forget, and sharing our beautiful, rich history and culture with new people moving in.”

Zoot suits originated in the ’30s and ’40s and were popular in places like Harlem and El Paso. “Here in Denver, there were Pachucos in the ’40s, and during the Chicano Movement in the ’60s and ’70s with Corky Gonzales and the Crusade for Justice,” Suavecito Salas notes. The sharp silhouettes, oversized coats and trousers, and wide shoulders of a zoot suit make a statement, and not just one about fashion.

Pachuco culture was born from barrios and big bands, jazz clubs and protest marches, and the zoot suit became a symbol of defiance. “It’s not just about fashion, it’s about history,” Suavecito Salas explains. “What it stood for was standing against oppression, against racism.” Zoot suits weren’t unique to Chicanos, he adds; they were also popular among Black and Filipino men and women facing discrimination, and even with the Teddy Boys subculture in Great Britain.

Suavecito Salas opened his store in the mid-’90s. “In ’97, we built a website, and that was the infancy of the internet,” he recalls. “After about 24 hours, we got emails from Japan, all over the country, and eventually ended up selling to every continent but Antarctica. Shortly after that, as the internet gained popularity through the 2000s, we averaged about one million visits a month on our site.” Original Suavecito made a suit for John Hickenlooper when he was running for mayor and has outfitted stars like David Bowie, who Suavecito Salas says filmed part of his documentary at the shop on Santa Fe Drive.

The Zoot Suit Fashion Show was produced by Lolly Art and Outkazt Designz, and featured clothing by Chico Apparel by Ben Suarez, Lizzie Bee Artistry by Liz Baros, Bow Tie Betty’s Boutique by Sierra Mae McClellan, Champlain Couture by Missy Champlain, Cherry Bomb by Bianca Lopez and Original Suavecito Clothing Company.

“There are five generations that are still wearing zoot suits that you’ll see out there,” Suavecito Salas said before the show. “They didn’t just put it on for today and are walking the runway, they’ve grown up around it and it has a lot of meaning, history and culture that has been a part of their family for generations.”

Before lining up to cheer on the fashion show, people checked out the classic car exhibit outside Denver Art Society as well as the art and car photography displayed inside the space. “The artists that we’re featuring as guest artists here in the gallery have never been in a gallery before,” said Holly Chapman, president of DAS. “I got a very beautiful experience watching someone sell their first piece. The artwork up there is stunning, and we need to embrace that.”

Niola hopes the event will help keep classic car culture alive, but with a modern-day flair. “I think values and cultures are dying out, so it’s really important to highlight that, with the classics and the oldies,” she says, “and keep flowing with it. I have a son, and I teach him how to build cars. That’s our legacy, to show our children our culture, and then they carry it on.”

Event coordinator Natacha Dana is ecstatic about the evening’s results. “I feel so good and positive about it all,” she says. “Educating the community about our history is so important.”

See more highlights from Santa Fe Nights: