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