- Details
- By Kaili Berg
- Indigenous Entrepreneurs
When he was young, Lehi Thunder Voice Eagle stumbled on an old traditional Navajo hat that reminded him of his grandpa.
Instead of merely treasuring it, he took the classic round-top, flat-brimmed hat to his dad. Together, they cleaned it up and transformed it with leather, coins and feathers.
The experience didn’t just reshape the time-worn hat; it transformed Thunder Voice Eagle, too. He found his passion for art, his Navajo culture and upcycling old materials into something new. Eventually, it became the idea behind his company, Thunder Voice Hat. Co., a Long Beach, Calif.-based maker of upcycled hats and clothing.
“Everyone really liked a hat that I was wearing during that time I was an artist. I would then start finding hats to reshape and put them online to sell. From there it just kind of blew up,” Thunder Voice Eagle (Diné, Totonic) told Tribal Business News.
Today, Thunder Voice Hat Co. is a family-operated business that sells a variety of products that carry on the lineage of Native fashion, including remade vintage hats, reclaimed clothing, and accessories like serapes and hip packs.
“We are looking at building alternatives to appropriation and building out principles that align with our culture, which is sustainability or respecting Mother Earth,” Thunder Voice Eagle said. “We also look at how our decisions have an impact on the future of our communities and look to seek guidance from our elders as we build out.”
The company’s name comes from its founder’s Native American name — Thunder Voice Eagle — that he received at the age of 10.
“We want to make sure that everything we make has that curated high-end artisan feel to it," Thunder Voice Eagle says. (Photo: Erica Elan)“As a Native artist I wanted that to be a piece of what I am doing. I felt like it was very appropriate as I am doing fashion and art to have the name that I am known by,” he said.
Thunder Voice Eagle now traces back to his Indigenous roots, making sure each item is designed as if it was going into an art gallery, sharing his heritage with both his Native American peers and the rest of America.
Thunder Voice Eagle has had the opportunity to showcase his creations in fashion shows for designer Bethany Yellowtail (Northern Cheyenne, Crow) and international fashion model Quannah Chasinghorse (Hän Gwich'in, Sicangu-Oglala Lakota).
To keep products sustainable, the company sources vintage hats from antique shops, antique shows, boutique thrifts, and even Facebook Marketplace. Each hat is carefully considered for its look and quality, but also to ensure it is durable enough to last a second lifetime, he said.
Employees then clean the hats, steam them to reshape, and then reblock them in the way you would a raw hat body. Once shaped, they embellish it with feathers, beading, flowers, embroidery, and reclaimed leather bands to give it a one-of-kind look that reflects his Navajo heritage and culture.
“We want to make sure that everything we make has that curated high-end artisan feel to it.” Thunder Voice Eagle said. In line with the one-of-a-kind artisan approach, many of the hats sell for between $4,000 to $6,000. The company also lists dozens of hats on its website priced in the $650-$750 for adult sizes and $275-425 for children through its Thunder Kids Hat line.
On top of being sustainable, the company also decided to stay with upcycling because there are not many avenues to ethically source wool or felt.
“The fur industry has caused a lot of harm in a way that these animals are killed just for the fur and everything else is getting wasted,” Thunder Voice Eagle said. “We do not want to get involved with that piece of it and also the amount of waste that is happening today with fast fashion.”
That type of authenticity is helping him build the Thunder Voice Hat Co. brand amid a recent surge in the sustainable fashion industry, which has experienced rapid growth in recent years as more and more consumers seek out environmentally-friendly products. The $6.5 billion sustainable fashion industry is expected to grow to $10 billion by 2025, according to industry experts.
With the sustainable fashion market growing, there also come challenges for Thunder Voice Eagle. The biggest challenge is sourcing clothes to help reduce the carbon footprint while also trying to increase the quality, longevity, and authenticity of their garments.
“Everything takes more and costs more to go that route,” Thunder Voice Eagle said. “You really have to strategize on how to make a business run while also making sure that every piece is an art piece and that we are showcasing beauty from our culture and things that are so important to us.”
He is excited for 2024, and says the brand is launching a new collection in the spring that will feature clothing and apparel.
“We are going to rebrand to focus on apparel,” Thunder Voice Eagle said. “We are so excited to move into clothing.”
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