Native Trends

By Caliber Creative

#IStandWithStandingRock #DakotaAccessPipeline #NoDAPL #WaterIsLife

Has anyone seen these hashtags recently? They are very prominent when I scroll through my Instagram. I follow several celebrities for style, humor, and to see how they use their fame to bring attention to different causes. Recently, Shailene Woodley, lead actress of the Divergent movie series, has been extremely involved with protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline, and wrote about her arrest experience. I recently read an article regarding her protesting, that was an interesting read, but keeping with design I will share the excerpt below:

We wear their heritage, their sacred totems, as decoration and in fashion trends, failing to honor their culture. Headdresses, feathers, arrows. Moccasins, sage, beadwork. You know what I’m talking about, Coachella. Walking around the flea market this weekend, I can’t even tell you how many native references I saw being used in a way that feeds our western narrative. Click to see the full article

She made a great point about how native culture has been adopted for popular culture. Feathers, beadwork, and patterns show up daily when I look at social media and when I walk through the store. At the last bachelorette party that I attended, we wore t-shirts with arrows displayed on the front that said, “Bride Tribe.” Representation of native culture shows up so frequently as a trend. In recognition of that and Native American Heritage month, below I highlight some of the designs that have become so popular from home décor to music festival style:

Caliber has represented native culture in design, as well. When working with the Helpline Center, our approach is not so much about following a trend when we use the colors from a medicine wheel in our design, but it’s rather to address a specific audience. Below is a sample from Helpline Center’s “Reach for Life” campaign: