Native American Designer Celebrates His Culture

Tired of seeing his culture misrepresented in fashion, this Native American designer created his own line of clothes to celebrate his people.

Transcript

00:00People automatically assume that we're all just about teepees and war bonnets

00:04when really Native American culture is a whole lot more detailed than that.

00:09We're not all about the plain style of living and the fringe and feather.

00:26I choose to represent my culture using things that I've experienced and

00:30things that I've learned as an engineer and as an artist and incorporating that

00:34into something different and staying away from a lot of the stereotype

00:38ideas that are always shown on the runway.

00:40So Akanav is a combination of cultures.

00:42It's Acoma and Navajo.

00:44Myself being Acoma, my wife being Navajo.

00:46I really wanted to celebrate more of the strength and empowerment of women

00:58and the things that we believe in and put that into fashion.

01:01My community has really stood behind that and really has unseen what I'm trying to do.

01:06Staying original to what I do, not copying anyone else's designs and

01:10representing ourselves in a different light.

01:21In our art culture, the designs that we produce are meant to be shared and I want

01:25to put that into fashion and tell a story about who we are more respectfully and

01:30give people an understanding of where we come from and what we believe in.