Michelle Brown is the Creative Director at Eighth Generation, a Native-owned art and lifestyle brand that collaborates with artists to create “Native-inspired” products by prioritizing 100% Native-designed goods such as blankets, scarves, and jewelry. She joined the company in 2024 and plays a key role in helping bring Indigenous storytelling to life through design.
“If you feel the fire and the passion, go for it and do it; you have the strength within you to overcome the challenges that some may think are barriers.”
–Michelle Brown
Eighth Generation partners directly with artists, ensuring they receive sustainable income as their products continue to sell. Each product includes a leather card that introduces the artisan behind the work, allowing customers to connect more deeply with the story and culture behind every piece. This approach aims to build honest, long-term relationships and provide artists with a stable source of revenue.
Eighth Generation Programs and How They Work with Artists
Eighth Generation was founded in 2009 with a mission to combat cultural appropriation by working directly with native artists. The company ensures that artists are properly credited, fairly compensated, and recognized for their creative work while showcasing their talents across the country.
- “Having many indigenous hands touch a product before it's received is a powerful thing.”
–Michelle Brown
Michell shares that Eighth Generation prioritizes producing high-quality products and takes pride in the standards they uphold. They remain committed to building new partnerships with artists and continuing to expand their collaborations. According to Michelle, the company will naturally continue to grow its representation of artists from different tribal communities and nations.
How Eighth Generation Makes Its Products
As a tribal-owned brand of the Snoqualmie Tribe of Washington, Michelle shares that it has been incredible to lean into tribal leadership and draw inspiration from the artwork created on site at their headquarters. While Eighth Generation sources materials globally, one of the brand’s proudest achievements is its Gold Label line, which represents its most premium blankets.
As a designer and creative, Michelle explains that it feels sacred to work with a team that carries this kind of work forward. Knitting, weaving, and other textile traditions are part of many tribal histories. By combining these traditions with modern tools such as digitization and collaborating closely with artists, the brand is able to translate these designs into a modern context. This process continues to innovate and push the work forward, keeping it exciting for the team while honoring the sacred energy they believe is transferred into their product.
Eighth Generation Hiring Indigenous Employees
Michelle shares that one thing Eighth Generation is proud of as a business is generating revenue that supports their Indigenous employees, which then flows back into their own communities. This approach reflects how the company also works with its artists through licensing and royalties. Any revenue generated from their designs continues to return to the artists through royalties, helping to enrich their communities too. According to Michelle, this model is one of the key things that sets Eighth Generation apart from other retail institutions doing similar work.
Michelle’s Background Before She Joined Eighth Generation
Michelle shares that she is Navajo and grew up in Alaska. Her father’s home is in Two Grey Hill, where she spent a lot of time, and also in Gallup, New Mexico. She later moved from Alaska to Manhattan to pursue design school and trained at the Parsons School of Design in New York City. After graduating, she began working in the fashion industry with several well-known brands.
From there, Michelle moved to Utah, where she stayed for seven years. When the opportunity arose at Eighth Generation, she relocated to Seattle. For Michelle, the role felt like a perfect and exciting opportunity to use her skills while helping to further the brand’s mission.
What Creative Directors Do on a Daily Basis
Michelle explains that as the Creative Director, she wears many hats, which she finds both challenging and exciting. She works closely with the company’s talented marketing team, and together they ensure that the artists’ voices and stories are reflected in the products. They also make sure that everything across social media, their website, blogs, and YouTube aligns with the artists’ wishes, acting as careful stewards of their story.
Michelle also reviews and approves all products before they are released, ensuring they are ready for the company’s e-commerce platforms and retail stores. According to her, the work involves many responsibilities, but it is incredibly rewarding to help carry these stories forward on behalf of the many artists they collaborate with.
Opportunities and Challenges in The Fashion and Creative Career Path
Michelle shares that both of her parents came from very humble backgrounds, and they were worried when she told them she wanted to pursue a creative career. To them, the creative field did not seem like a reliable way to earn a living. They feared she might fail and encouraged her to choose a more traditional career path, such as becoming a doctor or lawyer—something they believed would provide financial stability. At one point, they even told her not to tell people she was going to school to pursue fashion because they did not believe it would work out.
- “Go ahead and chase those dreams; nothing is unreachable. You just have to put your mind into it, work hard, use the talent within you, and pursue it.”
–Michelle Brown
For Michelle, this became a turning point in her life. She could not ignore the passion she felt for design, and she knew she could do it. Despite the fears, she pursued her dream. Michelle shares that the journey was not easy because the fashion industry is highly competitive, filled with established designers and well-known brands. But being able to prove to herself that she could succeed and work for some of the most notable brands in the industry was a great achievement.
Michelle encourages young people to chase their dreams because nothing is unreachable. She says there are people in the world with fewer qualifications and less talent who are making it, so you can do it too. You just need to put your mind into it, work hard, pursue it, and be willing to use the talent within you.
She also adds that if you are passionate about something and you are the first person in your family to pursue it, you should not ignore that calling. You should follow the feeling because it's indicative of something deeper, and you have the strength within you to overcome the challenges that some may think are barriers.
New Work Coming Up From Eighth Generation
Eighth Generation is continually developing and innovating. Michelle shares that they are currently working with new artists whose products have not yet been released. They also have new artists from the Snoqualmie Tribe, which is especially meaningful since the company is tribally owned. According to Michelle, it is exciting to see Snoqualmie artists continuing to work with them. Contracts were signed with some of these artists last year, and new products are now in development.
Michelle also mentions that jewelry, which the company has not released for a couple of years, will be coming out again this year. In addition, one of their biggest product categories—blankets and textiles—will feature an impressive lineup of new designs. These upcoming collections will include both wool and cotton blend blankets, along with beautiful textiles that allow artists to showcase their work. The team is excited to share these new releases as they approach summer and move into the fall season.
How 8th Generation is Now Going Forward
Michelle shares that the CEO, Jane Cho, joined the organization in April 2025 and has been with the organization for nearly one year. Since joining, she has been an incredible steward of the business, showcasing new ways to expand the brand and highlight specific products.
For Eighth Generation, the mission remains core-driven, and blankets continue to be what people most associate with the brand. They offer custom products to various organizations and tribal nations, leveraging their expertise in producing high-quality textile goods. According to Michelle, the CEO is deeply passionate about this “superpower,” and the rest of the team is behind 100%. Michelle notes that this direction aligns perfectly with what the brand does best, and that is something that they have been honing over the past year.
Connect With Michelle
About Michelle Brown
Michelle Brown is a Diné/Navajo artist and designer and a graduate of the Parsons School of Design. As Creative Director at Eighth Generation, a Native-owned brand of the Snoqualmie Tribe, she leads the development of the company’s product line, ensuring cohesive design while honoring the unique voice and storytelling of each Indigenous artist. Michelle brings experience from major fashion brands including Polo Ralph Lauren, Lane Bryant, and Nena & Co., where she specialized in product design and culturally rooted collaborations. Her work centers on creating intentional products that uplift Indigenous creativity, entrepreneurship, and authentic storytelling.
