(Photo by Shaun Marcus)

Jared Yazzie's designs tell a story about Native American life today. Above model MT Garcia wears a shirt called "Protect - Native Woman Protester."

Navajo fashion designer Jared Yazzie is probably best known for these four words: Native Americans Discovered Columbus.

“It’s just something we used to joke about back in the day, back in college,” he said. “And I threw it on a tee, and everyone seemed to like it.”

Meaning his friends, but also fans and fashion bloggers. The black shirt, emblazoned with white and yellow block letters, started popping up at concerts and protests, even CNN’s website. That was a few years ago, and it was the first big splash for Yazzie, but definitely not his last.

Yazzie is part of a renaissance of Native American fashion. For the first time ever, a major art exhibit featuring only Native designers is traveling around the country. It’s called Native Fashion Now, and it showcases more than 70 designers. Yazzie — who grew up in Holbrook, but now lives in Chandler — is one of them.

His line, OXDX Clothing, is best known for its bright, screen-printed shirts highlighting issues that affect Native Americans. Like one that says “Water Is Life” or the one Yazzie calls his “Uncle Scam” tee.

“Which was the real political one, I guess, which is an Uncle Sam image,” he said. “Except he’s wearing a ski mask.”

Yazzie once got punched in the face for wearing that one.

“Because they were two old military guys who didn’t understand what I was talking about,” he said.

What Yazzie is trying to talk about with his work is the reality of Native American life today — the beauty and the pain.

“You need to cause a little distress, you need to cause a little controversy,” he said. “But in the end, it’s all for a positive impact.”

Part of that, said Jaclyn Roessel, is simply reminding non-Natives that Native Americans still exist.

“There’s this very poetic, ninja-like infiltration that happens when you have a bunch of people who are wearing their Native Americans discovered Columbus shirts to work,” said Roessel, a fellow Navajo, who’s also a fashion blogger and longtime fan of Yazzie’s

She was sitting outside her workplace, the Heard Museum in Phoenix, which is filled with art from other contemporary Native Americans. Yazzie is one of many Native designers who sometimes get pushback from elders, Roessel said, for not being “traditional” enough. But Roessel stressed they’re actually following a long-held Native tradition of using whatever new materials are available to create work.

“We are living, breathing people, and we practice our culture every day,” she said. “So why not be able to bead on a pair of Christian Louboutin heels? That’s fashion. It’s now.”

And it’s gaining momentum.

Jared Yazzie’s brand recently hit the outdoor catwalk at a fashion show for Native designers at Arizona State University. It was well-attended, crowded with families, photographers and aspiring fashionistas. It was one of many shows Yazzie will do this year, from Denver to Tuba City. One of his models, Tenait Ortice, is only 15, but has already been following — and wearing — Yazzie for two years.

Ortice said he’s “setting the bar" for all Native artists. Ortice, a White Mountain Apache, wants to be a rapper.

“He’s paving, like, a new direction where Native American careers can go,” Ortice said.

For his part, Yazzie is humble about his success. He’s crashing at his brother’s house these days and jokes his car is held together by duct tape. But, he’s making a living — and an impact — by embracing his Navajo heritage.

“It’s a beautiful culture, and I just want it to be reflected, and to make beautiful things, and to make people feel a beautiful way, is the end goal,” he said. “And that’s why I’m in this business.”

It’s a business in which Yazzie hopes many more Native Americans will discover success.