KTZ's Latest Collection: A Racist Ripoff

Image by artist, Santiago

London-based fashion brand KTZ Official launched their latest collection yesterday during New York Fashion Week. In its collection, KTZ appropriates Native American design, offends with its misuse of Navajo sacred iconography, and rips off a well-known Native American fashion designer.

Woah.

Yes.

And representatives from the brand maintain that the collection is a ‘tribute’ to Native Americans.

Rebelina: A New Collection by Candace Halcro

I love working with designers and seeing their collections grow. It's always exciting when an artist breaks out and creates something new. For artist Candace Halcro, she had always loved creating a variety of beaded accessories, but she became known for her awesome beaded sunglasses. Well-constructed, with some of the best color combinations, she spent a good deal of her time filling the demand for her beaded sunglasses. But now she's found a way to balance it all (while still being a full-time mom!) and Beyond Buckskin talks with her about her new accessories collection, Rebelina.

Five Years of Beyond Buckskin!

I missed my anniversary!

Ok and by "anniversary", I mean blogiversary... or whatever it's called.  In August of 2009, I launched Beyond Buckskin not knowing what it would lead to. Actually, I launched BB with the sole mission of reaching more people. That's it. Simple mission.

I was in my last year as a grad student, I was in the final stages of writing my dissertation, and I hated that my research was reaching only a few people. It seemed unfair to the designers. 

We R Native (And We're Proud!)

I love November! It is Native American Heritage Month, and we get to strut our stuff to a national audience as news outlets cover more Native-oriented stories and programs throughout the country put together events to highlight Native American cultures and history. There are also more social media campaigns to show off what contemporary Native people look like (hey, you know stereotypes are still a huge problem for us!), and We R Native is an exciting new campaign to get Native youth across the nation to show the world what it means to be Native, using the #WeRNative hashtag.

Commemorating the Code Talkers with Fashion

Sometimes, I'm a wussy. Ok, a lot of times I'm a wussy. Watching Saving Private Ryan?- Yea that was traumatic for me. Reading about Wounded Knee?- I cried. Going to battle?- Yea, I could never survive that. I'm hyper aware of what I couldn't handle, and the acts of bravery that our warriors engage in amaze me.

I'm not the only one who is not only in awe of, but thankful for, these strong individuals, and we have multiple commemorative holidays here in the US in their honor.