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A Native American designer is pushing back against the fashion industry that copies her culture
A Native American designer is pushing back against the fashion industry that copies her culture
Megan WillettMay 28, 2015, 22:25 IST
Headdresses and knock-off Native American patterns on runways is controversial in the fashion industry.Karlie Kloss' Native American-style headdress caused an outcry at the 2012 Victoria Secret Fashion Show - the brand would later apologize and pull the outfit from the broadcast. H&M stopped selling its "hipster" Native American-inspired headdresses after customer complaints in 2013, and rapper Pharrell Williams was forced to apologize after wearing a war bonnet on the cover of Elle UK Magazine in 2014.And earlier this year, brand KTZ was accused of directly copying a dress by Native American fashion designer Bethany Yellowtail's "Crow Pop Collection."While the KTZ dress was geometric and had seemingly random inverted triangles, Yellowtail's was made with Crow bead work that dated back to her great grandmother.Yet even in the face of stolen cultural icons, Yellowtail is pushing back with a new collection called "The Mighty Few" for her brand b.YELLOWTAIL."Quite honestly I'm tired of talking about cultural appropriation, I'm doing something about it," she told Business Insider. "I simply want to carve out a space where an authentic voice and an authentic representation of Native America exists and thrives. If that means we're combatting cultural appropriation while just being true to ourselves then that's a bonus."Her collection launched in April and features items like a chiffon maxi dress with an elk tooth pattern and a French lace top with elk teeth replicas hand stitched across the top. The designs are contemporary and flattering while also being rooted in a long and storied culture.Yellowtail garnered inspiration from her upbringing on the Crow Nation and Northern Cheyenne Indian reservations in southeastern Montana as well as her ancestors and culture. In particular, a photo of her great aunt performing a rare Shoshone war bonnet dance - one of the few ceremonies where a young woman leader wears the symbolic headdress - side-by-side with a photo of another relative performing the same dance in 2013 was a major inspiration."The two together gave me an overwhelming feeling," she said. "It was so beautiful to clearly see the continuity of our people."
But her designs are more than continuing great traditions and honoring the past. Yellowtail strives to display Natives as modern and fashion-forward people instead of mere stereotypes, and makes a point of collaborating with indigenous artists - her photographer, models, and video director are all Native American, as MIC pointed out."My favorite piece is actually one of the accessories from my collection, the Women Warrior Ledger Scarf," Yellowtail told us. "I collaborated with an incredible Blackfeet artist named John Pepion who specializes in contemporary ledger drawings [Ed note: ledger drawings are narrative drawings or paintings traditional to the plains tribes]. I specifically brought in John to create the art which is featured on the scarf to help me tell a story."Courtesy of Bethany YellowtailThe Women Warrior Ledger Scarf was a collaboration with Blackfeet artist John Pepion.All of the clothes and accessories are also constructed on native land and are handmade by the b.YELLOWTAIL design team. She told Business Insider that she hopes to own a manufacturer on tribal land one day so that she can contribute to the economic development of these communities.So far, the response to the latest b.YELLOWTAIL collection has been overwhelmingly positive. The company has received so many orders that numerous items such as a horse hair rope belt and elk tooth necklace are on back order while her team struggles to meet the demand. "To be honest I wasn't fully anticipating this kind of response," she told Business Insider. "The orders have been flying in and the support from the native and non-native communities has been absolutely astounding."Yellowtail hopes that within the next five years, she'll see mainstream retailers around the country begin selling her designs, and wants to expand her brand into menswear, shoes, more accessories, and perhaps even home decor."When I step back and look at the collection I see a reflection of my loved ones, my ancestors, the communities I come from, the land I was raised, and I also see me," Yellowtail said. "Though history and circumstances have not always been in our peoples favor, time has not erased us, we are still here, beautiful, strong and resilient."You can see more of the b.YELLOWTAIL collection here.
