We recently connected with Jared Yazzie and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Jared thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What do you think Corporate America gets wrong in your industry? Any stories or anecdotes that illustrate why this matters?

I own and design for my clothing company, OXDX Clothing. I’ve been creating for this brand since 2009. At that time I was a college student and I was interested in streetwear and fashion but could not find representation for someone like me. In fact, I found the opposite. The fashion industry, especially, has years and years of racist and appropriative behaviors. Often times, native designs are inappropriately copied and profited off of. In my 13 years in this business I have learned the importance of designs, storytelling, and intent. My process isn’t an easy thing, and it shouldn’t be. I reach out to community members and family when creating, research is needed to be done to properly showcase indigenous work. Too many times we have been stolen from and used as “inspiration” but never collaborated with. This is what corporate America needs to learn and implement. There is no excuse not to pay Indigenous creators today and it’s not for lack of creators. I am inspired and humbled by so many native people that have been artists for years and even generations. People that create not only for beauty but for story and cultural survival. That is where our focus needs to go.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am a Diné, self taught graphic artist and fashion designer. I started my clothing label in 2009 after dropping out of college and have continued to build the brand for 13 years. It’s been my main source of income for the last 7 years and has generated interest from entities like Vogue, WWD, The Huffington Post, CNN, and the Smithsonian Institute. I create graphic art and screen prints with the intent to carry on Indigenous stories and to enlighten people about the Native experience. That experience is one of historical trauma, continued violence and discrimination, and harm through white supremacy and colonialism. OXDX speaks loud and is bold in our statements, but we also acknowledge the beauty of our people and try to showcase that through art, photos, and video. Currently, OXDX sells and ships worldwide through our online store and many wholesale accounts and if you are local to the Tempe, AZ area we have recently opened a storefront where we sell tshirts, blankets, scarves, accessories, and one-of-a-kind pieces. I have been a screen printer over 8 years and love to share the process at live screen printing events and workshops we host monthly. Updates and upcoming releases can be found on our social media ‘@oxdxclothing’ .

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

As mentioned before, I was in college when I started my business and what we all know from being in a university is that college kids do not have money, let alone capital to start a business. I knew I wanted to create clothing and found different ways to do that, even by cutting stencils and using fabric paint to make my first two tees. The scary thing about beginning your entrepreneurial journey is that you don’t know the demand for what you’re creating, you don’t know how much to make and if it will sell. I solved this problem by offering a preorder on my first edition tshirt, which was done in person and over Facebook, and offered a tshirt and sticker pack for the price of $30. I had 30 of my close friends agree wholeheartedly to a preorder, even before knowing what the tshirt and sticker would look like, and I used that collected money to design and order my first round of tees and outsource stickers. The design became known as the “Dream Team tee” and the people who ordered are forever recognized as the “Dream Team”, because it’s with the profit of the preorder I was able to also make 48 tees of my second design – the “Music Tee”. Which went on to sell out in a week then 48 more were made and sold out in another week. Then I was able to create my third design, the “Baby Boomer” tee in which I made 150 and sold them out in two weeks. This process followed and grew until I was releasing 8 designs every fall with thousands of tees in stock and in 2015 I was profitable enough to quit my job and pursue OXDX full time. All this would not have happened without the trust of those original 30 customers and I owe everything to them.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

I believe I am in a time right now where our company is pivoting. Which I imagine a lot of businesses are, considering the uncertainty of everything at the moment. When we started this brand I was focused on being everywhere at once, traveling and spending money to get my product in as many faces as possible. Now being a little older and not trusting travel at the moment, we have doubled down on our headquarter operations and opened a storefront! Now my time is focused on creating more art, building a team, and allowing more access to ourselves through a store. It has been challenging and is something that will take time to perfect but we are committed to that transition.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.oxdxclothing.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oxdxclothing/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oxdxclothing/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/oxdxclothing
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQgFWgklaqVGBuMRGnaWkpA

Image Credits
Josh Lerma Larry Price Danny Upshaw Shady Bear Photography Kelly Hofer