Fashion designer Bethany Yellowtail in ‘financial duress’ amid ongoing controversy
Tuesday, June 7, 2022
Indianz.Com
One of Indian Country’s most prominent fashion designers, who recently deflected allegations of artistic theft, is encountering new challenges to her business.
In a statement on Monday, Bethany Yellowtail announced the end to one of her long-running endeavors. She said she was shutting down an initiative known as the B.Yellowtail Collective due to “financial duress” at her Native-woman owned company.
“We have come to the unfortunate decision to dissolve The Collective platform due to the financial duress our company has been placed under,” Yellowtail, a citizen of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe who also claims ties to the Crow Tribe, wrote in a four-page statement.
Bethany Yellowtail Statement
byellowtail060622Let’s talk about BRANDS WE LOVE: Meet @byellowtail. We met Bethany Yellowtail and her business partner Kim Meraz through…
Posted by Faherty Brand on Thursday, March 26, 2020
“Even though I am only able to send work occasionally I appreciate being part of the collective so much!” one Native woman artist wrote. “I am honored to be a part of this collective!” a second Native woman artist stated. “I have been very honored to be a part of the collective for several years,” another Native woman artist stated. She added: “You are helping so many Native Artist(s) build a future for themselves through their artwork.” “My experience in this collective has been so wonderful,” a fourth Native woman artist said in the comments on the fashion company’s social media post. Yellowtail also would not reveal how the shutdown of the collective will impact the future operations of her business. Instead, she characterized the pending publication of her four-page statement on Indianz.Com as having been “leaked” and she promised to issue a public statement soon. “Given that I sent this confidential email out this evening, my concern is that a majority of our current collective artists have not had a chance to read it,” Yellowtail told Indianz.Com late on Monday. The recipients of the Yellowtail’s email with her June 6 statement included some of those who commented positively on the Instagram post about the B.Yellowtail Collective. “The Collective was my way of offering a space that could prioritize and benefit artists from the center of our tribal communities,” Yellowtail said in the statement. “It came from a place in my heart that only wanted to help our people.”
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