Bethany Yellowtail (born 1989) is a Native American fashion designer based in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, California.{{Cite news, url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/02/fashion/standing-rock-dakota-access-pipeline-pyer-moss.html, title=Fashion Steps Up at Standing Rock, last=Safronova, first=Valeriya, date=2016-12-02, work=The New York Times, access-date=2017-03-19, issn=0362-4331 Known for her work that reflects her Indigenous heritage, she is an enrolled citizen of the

Northern Cheyenne Tribe The Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation () is the federally recognized Northern Cheyenne tribe and a Plains tribe. The Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation is reservation located in southeastern Montana, that is a ...

and a descendant of the

Crow Tribe of Montana The Crow, whose autonym is Apsáalooke (), are Native Americans living primarily in southern Montana. Today, the Crow people have a federally recognized tribe, the Crow Tribe of Montana, with an Indian reservation, the Crow Indian Reservation ...

. She serves as

designer A designer is a person who plans the form or structure of something before it is made, by preparing drawings or plans. In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, products, processes, laws, games, graphics, services, or exper ...

and

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

for her line B.Yellowtail.

Early life and education

Yellowtail was born in the small rural town of Wyola, located in the southeast corner of

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

near the Wyoming border.{{Cite web, url=http://www.beyondbuckskin.com/2010/03/designer-profile-bethany-yellowtail.html , title=Designer Profile {{! Bethany Yellowtail, website=www.beyondbuckskin.com, access-date=2017-03-19 She is an enrolled citizen of the

and grew up with her four siblings and parents on the Crow Reservation.{{Cite news, url=http://billingsgazette.com/news/local/northern-cheyenne-woman-making-waves-in-the-fashion-world/article_6a287956-7e65-5a70-a35c-e208a2f65ac2.html, title=Northern Cheyenne woman making waves in the fashion world, last=Olp, first=Susan, work=The Billings Gazette, access-date=2018-03-30, language=en Yellowtail's parents and family members had been involved in creating Indigenous artistry all throughout her life. She originally piqued her interest in Indigenous jewelry, beaded earrings being one of the first pieces she would sell to others. Aunts and grandmothers taught her to sew, where her passion for fashion began.{{cite web, last1=Luther, first1=Billy, date=2018-02-27, title=alter-NATIVE Ep. 1 "Bethany Yellowtail: Sun Road Woman and Fashion Designer", url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81N1zeq85c8&list=PLh_qdzak59m4_yZzJOZa3BW1Rhm0pOMab, website= www.pbs.org, publisher=Indie Lens Storycast, accessdate=2018-03-25, ref=alterNative Yellowtail attended Tongue River schools in Ranchester, Wyoming, 23 miles from her family's ranch in Wyola, Montana. She graduated from Tongue River High School in 2007. She attended the

Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising The Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM) is a private college in downtown Los Angeles. The college was founded in 1969 by Tonian Hohberg, the institute's president and CEO. In 2023, Arizona State University (ASU) announced that ...

Career

Yellowtail's beginnings in her corporate fashion career were with multiple name brands, which often would appropriate Native American Designs.{{Cite web , title=CFDA , url=https://cfda.com/news/bethany-yellowtail-on-supporting-community-and-culture , access-date=2024-04-10 , website=cfda.com, date=10 June 2021 Yellowtail began working in fashion with the BCBG Max Azria Group, then became a pattern maker for private labels. Her time with these brands pushed her to create her own company, B.Yellowtail, in 2015, to accurately represent Native American Culture. In 2015, Bethany was selected as a First Peoples Fund Artist in Business Leadership Fellow. As a Native designer, Yellowtail confronts cultural appropriation in the fashion industry. PBS Indie Lens Storycast featured B.Yellowtail as part of a series of short films called alter-NATIVE by Billy Luther. In 2022, Bethany was selected for Visas "She's Next in Fashion" and was recognized at the Green Carpet Fashion Awards. She was awarded alongside fellow honorees Aurora James, Rashad Robinson, and Tom Ford.

Political

Yellowtail is an active supporter of women's rights. For the 2017

Women's March Women's March may refer to: * Women's March on Versailles, a 1789 march in Paris * Women's Sunday, a 1908 suffragette march in London * Woman Suffrage Procession, a 1913 march and rally in Washington, D.C. * Women's March (South Africa), a 1956 ma ...

on the

National Mall The National Mall is a Landscape architecture, landscaped park near the Downtown, Washington, D.C., downtown area of Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United States. It contains and borders a number of museums of the Smithsonian Institu ...

in Washington D.C., Yellowtail collaborated with fellow Montana artist John Isaiah Pepion to create a custom-designed scarf featuring Native American women, each wearing a War Bonnet. In

Crow Nation The Crow, whose autonym is Apsáalooke (), are Native Americans living primarily in southern Montana. Today, the Crow people have a federally recognized tribe, the Crow Tribe of Montana, with an Indian reservation, the Crow Indian Reservati ...

culture, women traditionally do not wear a full headdress, except for the special occasion of the

Shoshone The Shoshone or Shoshoni ( or ), also known by the endonym Newe, are an Native Americans in the United States, Indigenous people of the United States with four large cultural/linguistic divisions: * Eastern Shoshone: Wyoming * Northern Shoshon ...

War Bonnet Dance, regarded as the highest honor for Crow women. Yellowtail chose the design to underscore female empowerment and respect. The scarf was worn by the many Indigenous women as part of th
Indigenous Women Rise
a grassroots advocacy group first gathering at the

. Another way that she has contributed to Indigenous female empowerment is through her Rez Girl Mentorship Fund. She collaborated with the Native Wellness Institute to further develop this program, in hopes of providing opportunities for vulnerable Indigenous communities, who have been affected by the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives (MMIR) epidemic. This fund focuses on mentoring young Indigenous girls to understand and believe in their ability to do anything. Yellowtail includes the works of several Native American artists and designers as part of The B.Yellowtail Collective, part of her efforts to support the entrepreneurship of fellow Native Americans.

Personal

Bethany Yellowtail is a member of the Northern Cheyenne Nation, and hails from the Mighty Few District of the Crow Nation in Southeastern Montana. Yellowtail is now located in Los Angeles, where she relocated to launch her company. Yellowtail has always had a passion for fashion since her youth. She took an interest in sewing and beadwork, which her aunt and grandmother taught her on the reservation. She started making powwow shawls for her family and further developed her skills by making clothes in her home economics class in high school. She feels grateful to have this creative outlet as a Native Youth but recalls the judgment she faced from others when she expressed wanting to turn this hobby into a career

Gallery work

Along with Bethany Yellowtail's two fashion labels, the designer has also touched into the gallery world, such as having an artist spotlight at the Portland Art Museum. The spotlight from June 2016 discusses Yellowtail's heritage and what drives her inspiration in the fashion industry. The Field Museum in Chicago also hosted Yellowtail in an exhibit called “Apsáalooke Women and Warriors” where her designs are featured.{{Cite web , title=Field Museum, UChicago exhibition upends traditional Native American representations {{! University of Chicago News , url=https://news.uchicago.edu/story/exhibition-upends-traditional-native-american-representations , access-date=2022-11-14 , website=news.uchicago.edu , date=5 March 2020 , language=en The exhibit features a range of works such as historical and contemporary pieces from different generations and tribes.

References

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External links

byellowtail.com/
{{authority control {{DEFAULTSORT:Yellowtail, Bethany Living people 21st-century Native American artists American fashion designers American women fashion designers 21st-century American designers American chief executives of fashion industry companies American women chief executives Northern Cheyenne people American people of Crow descent Native American fashion designers 1989 births 21st-century Native American women 21st-century American businesswomen Cheyenne women artists Cheyenne artists Native American people from Montana 21st-century American businesspeople