San Francisco flourishes with creativity and countless artists, who share their stories through their craft. The city is fortunate to call Joey Montoya ’12 one of its own innovative entrepreneurs, designing a Native American owned fashion brand called Urban Native Era.

Montoya is Lipan Apache, a native territory of Texas, but was born and raised in San Francisco, California. During his time at Archbishop Riordan High School, he recalls being a captivated art student, taught by Irman Arcibal.

Arcibal commented, “I think Montoya uses his brand Urban Native Era as a way to bridge the visual, ethnic and cultural, environmental, and fashion worlds. Part of the genesis of the brand was to help bring awareness to tribal land and water issues and the conflicts that arise with land use and development…I do see some connections between what he made as a student and some of the images and pieces he still produces today.”

After graduating Riordan, Montoya continued his education at San Jose State University, where he found his inspiration from the Indigenous issue in Canada. In 2012, a number of bills endangered the environmental rights of the native people, affecting their Indigenous sovereignty and protection. To raise awareness and combat this issue, multiple Indigenous groups began the “Idle No More” movement.

“It was November 2012, and I started to go to the rallies that were happening in support of the Indigenous people from Canada, and I brought my camera, and took photos and videos and posted them online and that was my way of showing solidarity and to spread the message,” said Montoya.

His solicitude for the Indigenous people in Canada prompted his creative decision to design clothes where the message would draw in awareness and support.

“I think fashion just plays a different role, and a different way for folks to spread a message or represent themselves compared to our traditional media, so I just wanted to really use clothing and fashion to spread to that different audience and those people that wanted to spread the message in a different way,” explained Montoya.

With the Indigenous communities in mind, Joey Montoya founded Urban Native Era with hopes of reaching people in a more connected way.

Urban Native Era showcases comfortable and contemporary clothing, designed to represent his culture and integrate it into the broader community. The brand is a vessel for Indigenous people to vocalize their needs in an often exclusive society.

Montoya stated, “Fashion to me can be very fluid. I think it’s something that a lot of fashion today hasn’t really touched on, as far as creating this deeper connection of who we are as people and who we are culturally, so fashion for me is bringing in those elements, and also in a way of bringing those spiritual elements.”

One of the brand’s most notable statements is “You’re on Native Land,” which is highlighted on many designs, along with a hummingbird.

“‘You’re on Native Land’ to me is statement that can be worn by everyone, and for me being a kid growing up in San Francisco and not seeing too many Indigenous visibility, seeing someone wearing that around, you kind of feel that connection, you feel more like people understand about your culture and what you think,” voiced Montoya.

Urban Native Era has also been featured in the Hulu series “Reservation Dogs,” a teen drama comedy focused around Native American teenagers. Items from Urban Native Era can be seen on the character “Willie Jack’’ portrayed by actress Paulina Alexis.

Urban Native Era has recently been welcomed by REI, a retail store that caters to functional outdoor clothing and equipment; they are available on REI’s website and in person stores. The brand can also be found on its own website–UrbanNativeEra.com–with a wide selection of clothing and accessories.

Urban Native Era will also be represented in a San Francisco Fashion show at the Academy of Sciences April 4, 2024, with more information on tickets on their website.

With all of the success that has been brought to Urban Native Era, Montoya sees his brand with a gleaming future ahead. He hopes it will become a more established brand with more opportunities to bring the community together.

Montoya hopes to “create more pieces in the higher fashion realm, giving us a chance to wear something that’s a little bit more elevated for an event, red carpet look or fashion show.”

This story was originally published on The Crusader on March 30, 2024.