Native Max Magazine California Issue - July/August 2015 | Page 6

BEHIND THE COVER

UNCOVERED

Behind the cover: downtown L.A., prepping, the designs,
and a few facts about cover model Dominique Lombardie
Designs by

T

B.JASH.I.

he July/August issue of Native Max
was the CALIFORNIA issue, and
although we had an idea of who we
wanted on the cover, we were still
undecided. In a way, we wanted a young
girl or guy who would be able to represent the whole indigenous community
of California; someone who could stand
for higher education, and not just fellow
Natives of the film industry.
We considered a handful of potential
cover models, when 22-year-old Dominique Lombardi stood out. She was just
crowned Ms. UCLA Powwow back in
May, and she leads the Pacific region in
U.N.I.T.Y. She previously held her tribe’s
“Daughter of Morongo” royalty title for
three years, and is a shining leader in her
community.
The team gathered around and took
a vote. It was then decided: Dominique
Lombardi would grace the cover of our
first annual CALIFORNIA issue.
It seemed perfect to pair the cover
shoot location with downtown LA. Dominique was bringing her jingle dress and
Ms. UCLA Powwow crown to the shoot.
With the cover photos, we wanted to illustrate how the Native American community is thriving in the big city of Los Angeles.
Teamed up with Marcie Bain and her
gorgeous dresses, makeup artist Desiree
Belone, and Zoe Friday leading the photography, this was certainly the perfect
concoction of creative and California.

For her contemporary
look, Dominique was
styled in B.JASH.I.
ensembles. Designer
Marcie Bain (Karuk/
Shasta) traveled to
LA from her home in
San Diego just for this
shoot!

Photography by

ZOE FRIDAY

DESIREE BELONE
Makeup by

City girl Desiree Belone (Navajo/Ponca)
provided her makeup talents for the
shoot. Check out our write-up on Desiree
on page 24!

6

NATIVEMAX.COM JULY/AUGUST 2015

Dominique was photographed by Native Max
photog and West