Reno Tsosie '15

In November 2020 fashion designer—and now entrepreneur—Reno Tsosie ’15 launched his own menswear brand, Hashké.

Dedicated to “Navajo storytelling through apparel,” Hashké reflects an inherently interdisciplinary sensibility that was already very much in evidence during Tsosie’s time as an American Studies major at Stanford—not least in a senior capstone project that interwove design with cultural history.

Hashké also reflects Tsosie’s commitment to supporting and authentically representing Navajo culture and communities. As Tsosie told the Navajo Times, Hashké was inspired, not least, from a reaction against the culturally insensitive appropriations that Tsosie (who worked for several high-end fashion houses after graduation from Stanford) encountered in the fashion industry.  Wishing that there was “something that was out there that was authentic that was not traditional clothing,” Tsosie decided to take matters into his own hands.

Hashké’s mission, as Tsosie articulates it on the brand’s website, is to “create menswear that draws from Navajo culture and share the Navajo journey through artistic storytelling.” To date, Tsosie has designed two collections for the brand: “The Emergence” and “Northern Travels at Dusk.” Contemporary in styling, each piece in these collections is designed to reflect and evoke an aspect of Navajo culture, place, and experience. Each comes with a narrative. 

The commitment that is (literally) woven into the fabric of Hashké’s shirts doesn’t end at design and storytelling, though.  “I have a long-term vision for the brand,” Tsosie writes. “Today, Hashké supports a small group of creators and artisans, but tomorrow I would like to bring jobs and economic diversity back to the Navajo Nation.”