Nancy Traugott never stops smiling. She loves her life in Santa Fe. “I fell in love with Santa Fe’s intimacy the first time we came here,” she says, smiling. That intimacy, plus Traugott’s creativity, led to a luxe spin on City Different fashion with homefrocks, her signature hand-tailored clothing line and shop on Old Santa Fe Trail. Designing skirts and vests using silk, cotton, and wool with an eye to flow and feel is her trademark. Sewn to her personal specs, the garments take shape in studios in San Francisco and Albuquerque. Traugott, designing since age 13, and husband Philip, then hand-dye the garments. Unique to their approach, they use both commercial fabric-reactive and home-brewed botanical (acacia bark, black walnuts, logwood) dyes. “I like having things made in our country in small batches,” Nancy says. She adds that her successful business “could only happen in Santa Fe, where there is a good customer base for what we do.”—Kate McGraw

JULIEN MCROBERTS

Nancy Traugott hand and heart fashion

SERGIO SALVADOR

Adriana Blake mountain high hospitality

SERGIO SALVADOR

Inee Yang Slaughter saving the mother tongue “This is a quiet, insidious, unseen crisis. Unlike a tsunami, it doesn’t have an impact that we see and hear, but in the long run it means a loss of millennia of knowledge,” says Inee Yang Slaughter, Indigenous Language Institute executive director since 1995. By her own estimates, some indigenous languages will die off in less than a decade. But Yang Slaughter, a Korean American who grew up in Tokyo speaking several languages, hasn’t lost hope. “The Pueblos and Navajo Nation have protected their languages diligently,” says Yang Slaughter. The Institute is developing the Self-Study of American Indian Languages, a learner-driven lesson plan to help the effort.—Stephanie Pearson

“When I was 12, I served hot chocolate in the lift lines,” says Adriana Blake, 42. Blake is the granddaughter of Ernie Blake, who opened Taos Ski Valley in 1954. The mountain ski resort, northeast of Taos, might be one of the last major family-owned U.S. resorts. It’s anything but an anachronism, largely thanks to the younger Blake’s enthusiastic efforts. These days, instead of serving hot chocolate, Adriana, who is the marketing director, does whatever it takes to keep the operation running smoothly, including occasionally driving the shuttle. Taos’s world-renowned terrain remains the Blake family’s hospitality touchstone, ever informing their offerings. Look for lift-served mountain biking this summer and new glades in the Wild West Basin next winter. “I’ve been in this business forever,” says Blake, “but it’s still super exciting. I’m going to be here as long as I can.”—SP april/may 2013

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