Top 10 Indigenous Brands
November is Native American Heritage Month, and to highlight this month we are focusing on Native American business and artists you should support. There are many ways to support Indigenous brands, one of which is through supporting Indigenous clothing and beauty brands.
Here are 10 Indigenous-owned fashion brands to shop at and support:
Founded by Lehi Thundervoice Eagle, Thundervoice Hat Co. is a sustainable fashion brand that reclaims and repurposes the iconic Navajo brim hat. Each hat holds a story and a purpose. They are also vintage, hand-sourced, steamed and made, inventively visioned, and affectionately made.
This Indigenous-owned brand was founded by siblings Crystal and Rico Worl. The brand’s goal is to promote innovative Indigenous design, they focus on Northwest Coastal Art and exploring the themes and issues in Native culture.
This Diné Indigenous-owned brand was founded by Winston Paul and offers handmade jewelry, skirts, and makeup bags.
Founded by Devon Fiddler, She Native is an Indigenous fashion brand that focuses on empowering women using the teachings that come from Indigenous Nationhood. SheNative also has a social impact and is committed to employing Indigenous women to design and manufacture their products and involving Indigenous customers and communities in the design process.
Nanibaa Beck, a second-era Dine’ (Navajo) metalsmith, founded NotAbove Jewelry in November 2013. NotAbove hand-sawn minimal jewelry collections focus on the Native Indigenous languages fulfilled by a unique niche of Native art.
Founded in 2014 by Bethany Yellowtail, B.Yellowtail is a brand that celebrates her heritage by using indigenous patterns and motifs such as the Crow rose prints. Bethany’s second label B.Yellowtail Collective is centered around supporting and empowering native artists all across the Great Plains tribal region. Bethany is a fashion designer who is using her platform in the fashion industry to create awareness for important issues happening within the Native community while encouraging Indigenous people to fight for a positive change.
OXDX is an Indigenous fashion label that was founded by artist Jared Kee Yazzie, self-taught graphic designer, and printmaker, in 2009. Jared’s partner Allie Stone is a textile artist and is the head seamstress and business manager of OXDX. The brand offers screen printing to anyone that needs it and screen prints all their products in-house.
Founded by Joey Montoya, Urban Native Era is a sustainable Indigenous fashion brand based in Los Angeles, California. In 2013 UNE gained recognition for its continued efforts using apparel and design as a tool to increase the visibility of Indigenous news.
Founded by Keri Ataumbi, Ataumbi Metals is a jewelry brand that sells wearable art. The jewelry is ethnic and rooted in tradition. Ataumbi uses traditional Kiowa imagery and materials in contemporary form through an exploration of imagery and materials to create a small sculpture complete upon its own, as well as worn on the body.
Lauren Good Day is an Arikara, Hidatsa, Blackfeet, and Plains Cee designer who’s design focuses on intricate patterns and prints in products such as scarves, shirts, and dresses. The designs are truly wearable art and feature more hand-drawn designs by the award winning artist.
Sources:
ABOUT. (n.d.). Urban Native Era. Retrieved November 7, 2021, from https://urbannativeera.com/pages/about
ABOUT | ThunderVoice Eagle. (n.d.). Thunder Voice Hat Co. Retrieved November 7, 2021, from https://www.thundervoicehatco.com/about
About Us. (n.d.). Trickster Company. Retrieved November 7, 2021, from https://trickstercompany.com/pages/about-us
Nanibaa Beck. (n.d.). NOTABOVE. Retrieved November 7, 2021, from https://notabove.com/about
Our Journey. (n.d.). SheNative Goods. Retrieved November 7, 2021, from https://www.shenative.com/pages/about-us