LA-based/Native American fashion designer Bethany Yellowtail creates clothing combining traditional Native American representation with contemporary silhouettes that all walks of life can wear and enjoy.

From The LA Times:

“I realized there is so much [cultural appropriation] going on that I decided I am not even going to get mad anymore, but I decided I was going to do something about it,” Yellowtail said in a recent interview with The Times. “Ultimately, I want to let my work become a learning opportunity and design pieces with cultural integrity.”

Yellowtail, who hails from the Crow Nation and Northern Cheyenne Indian reservations in southeastern Montana, moved to Los Angeles in 2007 to study fashion design. She graduated from the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in 2009.

In 2014 she started her fashion label in L.A. The brand celebrates her heritage and ancestral tradition through the creation of dresses, tops, skirts, pants and accessories that bear patterns and motifs such as the elk tooth and Crow rose prints that are adaptations from the Northern Plains tribe’s original prints. The re-imagined fabrics are then paired with modern silhouettes such as off-the-shoulder tops, wrap dresses and flare pants. B.Yellowtail releases new items about every month with prices ranging from $50 to $1,500. Yellowtail’s line is available online at www.byellowtail.com.

Selections from Bethany Yellowtail’s summer 2017 women’s collection will be available at a three-day celebration and pop-up shop during her Art, Fashion & Resilience event taking place here at The World of Wonder Storefront Gallery, 6650 Hollywood Blvd., starting Friday, June 16. Hours and additional event information can be found at byellowtail.com.

RSVP at yellowtail.com/events

(Photo: Idris + Tony)