A new Post "Barneys’ Amanda Brooks Writes Tone Deaf ‘Navajo Nation’ Post: Can the Fashion Industry Stop Describing Trends as ‘Navajo’? (Yes, We’re..." was written on the October 23, 2011 at 5:10 pm on "Textile Global - Textile and Fashion News".
The latest fashion news scandal, aside from the ongoing New York vs.
Milan fashion week stand off [1], concerns the use of the word Navajo.
The Navajo Nation has a trademark on its name, and made headlines when
it sent Urban Outfitters a cease and desist letter for selling items
called “Navajo hipster panties [2]” and a “Navajo flask.”
Urban Outfitters has since renamed [3] these items the “Printed
Hipster Panty” and the “Printed Fabric Wrapped Flask” but that
hasn’t stopped Barneys’ fashion director, the girl-crush worthy
Amanda Brooks [4], from writing a post on Barneys’ “The Window”
blog about all things Navajo.
The post is titled “Navajo Nation: Amanda Brooks tries out fall’s
hottest print,” [5] and it features items from Barneys and sources
inspiration photos of Joni Mitchell, Emmanuelle Alt, Daria Werbowy,
and the female equivalent of the Native American from the Village
People (see: white bikini and headdress).
Brooks writes, “The Navajo trend isn’t exactly news at this point,
but I must admit, it took me a while to catch on.” Except that it is
news–national, major retailer lawsuit, news. Of course there’s
also the closing sentence, which, um, well, here it is: “And if
you’re truly a ‘lady of the canyon’ and want to dive into the
look head-to-toe, just go for it. If you feel that strongly, I’m
sure you can pull it off.”
Of course Brooks isn’t the only person working in fashion to have
described a trend as Navajo. Jezebel [6] points out that lady mags
like Cosmo and Lucky are describing clothes as “Navajo” in their
current issues and we’re certainly guilty [7] of using Navajo as a
descriptor, too.
So we’ve learned our lesson and hope other fashion outlets have as
well. Using the word Navajo to describe a print or trend not only has
racist undertones, but it also infringes on the Navajo Nation’s
trademark. And as Jezebel’s Dodai Stewart points out, “[S]ince the
Navajo Nation does indeed exist in the here and now, the description
is just undermining and demeaning…The unemployment rate in the
Navajo Nation is around 42%; the median family income is $22,392; and
43% of its residents live below the poverty rate. Not very luxe.”
Remember those full page ads Chanel took out in WWD to inform people
that using Chanel as a descriptor was copyright infringement [8]? Same
deal here.
So how to describe this trend? Native American-inspired doesn’t
quite sit right. Maybe Southwestern? We’re still mulling it over.
What do you think?
Original post:
Barneys’ Amanda Brooks Writes Tone Deaf ‘Navajo Nation’ Post:
Can the Fashion Industry Stop Describing Trends as ‘Navajo’? (Yes,
We’re...
Links:
------
[1] http://fashionista.com/2011/10/milan-organizer-calls-new-york-and-lon...
[2] http://fashionista.com/2011/10/fashion-news-roundup-rachel-zoes-expla...
[3] http://fashionista.com/2011/10/fashion-news-roundup-urban-pulls-all-i...
[4] http://fashionista.com/2011/07/barneys-amanda-brooks-shares-the-secre...
[5] http://thewindow.barneys.com/amandas-lookbook-navajo-prints/
[6] http://jezebel.com/5851791/ladymags-totally-loving-this-navajo-trend
[7] http://fashionista.com/2011/03/isabel-marant-fall-2011-nouveau-navajo/
[8] http://fashionista.com/2010/09/chanel-takes-its-trademark-seriously/
http://www.textileglobal.com/2011/10/barneys%e2%80%99-amanda-brooks-w...
________________________________________________________
You have subscribed to these e-mail notices about new posts to the blog.
If you want to change your settings or unsubscribe, please visit:
?code=d88d61bfb482acbc6a036312f7af7570&addr=sourcing-of-industrial-products %40googlegroups.com&
