Julie Alivaktuk

Julie Alivaktuk is a seamstress from Iqaluit, NU who specializes in the use of leather, duffle and locally harvested sealskin. Alivaktuk has mastered her craft from the guidance of her mother and school, each teaching with an enthusiasm for passing down traditional seamstress skills. Working with her sealskin from harvesting, preparing, stretching and drying, Alivaktuk has gained in-depth knowledge of her material. Her wears are expertly crafted with strong traditional and contemporary design language, each of which combine in the creation of a jacket, a bag, a pair of kamiks and mitts that are fresh and exciting. 

Another side of Alivaktuk’s work is the stories of colonization, it’s impact on her community as well as Nunavut and the history of what Inuit went through. Her wearables are a vessel for these stories, her application of materials layer in a way that calls back centuries of change and adaptation, of strength and resilience. Her passion for the revival and preservation of knowledge is an extension, a continuation of that story.

Alivaktuk has worked on various movie sets in wardrobe, makeup and photography departments, lending her artistic hand to authentic representation of traditional knowledge and clothing design. Alivaktuk is also working on starting her own business, Pikulu Designs, where she sews together a wide range of wearables from bags, to mitts, to kamiks and her specialty, jackets.