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News > World

Navajo Nation Designer: Support Us, Not Racist Urban Outfitters

  • A Navajo man stands outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC

    A Navajo man stands outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC | Photo: Reuters

Published 23 May 2016
Opinion

OxDx, a brand from Arizona run by a member of the Navajo Nation, makes clothing that deals with Native issues and is a brand worth supporting.

OxDx, a native Navajo-owned clothing label based out of Chandler, Arizona, can help you look cool without taking away from the United States' Native American community, according to the Huffington Post.

RELATED:
Not Famous Enough? Navajo Nation Loses Urban Outfitters Case

Native American issues have come to the forefront after a judge dealt a blow to the Navajo Nation. The tribe lost two counts in a multimillion dollar lawsuit against Urban Outfitters because the tribe’s trademark is not “famous” enough, according to the court siding with the fashion giant's argument that "Navajo" is a generic term for a style or design.

The brand is owned by Jared Yazzie, a Navajo from northern Arizona who began his design journey in 2009 from a college dorm room. Yazzie combines native motifs with punk-rock themes to create a unique style.

The images on the screen-printed T-shirts deal with issues facing the native community.

The "chemical warfare" design, from the OxDx website.

“He’s dressed as our elder men would dress, with the bandanna, the necklace, rocking a chief blanket—but he’s also wearing a respirator mask," Yazzie told the Huffington Post, referring to a shirt design called "chemical warfare."

"There’s also uranium mining on the res (reservation)—and it gets into the water system, and people are getting cancer. It’s kind of crazy to think that that’s home for us," Yazzie said.

To view more of OxDx's designs, visit their website here.

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