Associated Press
SHIPROCK The Navajo Nation operates much like an independent country, but when it comes to fashion and music it's as American as New York City.
That's the theory two young fashion designers bet on when they dropped out of college to start a line of edgy, graffiti-inspired clothing.
"Mainly we started to find extra money to pay bills, but it turned into this rapidly growing clothing company," said Tyson Powless, co-founder of the Shiprock-based UN3EK SY5TEM.
Powless, 28, grew up in Wisconsin, then moved to Tuba City, Ariz., for high school. He left Dixie College in St. George, Utah, a semester short of earning an associate's degree to try his hand at screen printing. His hand was well practiced; he began doodling Transformers and G.I. Joe figures at age 3.
The self-taught graffiti artist found a day job in Tempe, Ariz., and sold his original, screen-printed T-shirts by night at hip hop clubs. The designs feature a cross between the music culture and Powless's American Indian roots designs such as a Mohawk graphic and a white-on-black image of Chief Sitting Bull.
"I got to town with a portfolio of art," he said. "I was really hungry to get my stuff on T-shirts."
Read more here: http://www.lcsun-news.com/latest/ci_7660196
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