Scandal has embroiled the trendy clothing line Nātiv after it was revealed Tuesday that a model at a recent fashion show was actually born in Louisiana. Nātiv, which has thrived by combining premium casualwear with a strong sense of state identity, has issued an apology.
“It has come to our attention,” said Brett Tucker, Director of Operations for Nātiv, “that at our recent fashion expo at the Little Rock Fashion Week, a model wearing a Nātiv Arkansas shirt was actually born in Shreveport. While this is nothing against the model in question, we seek to hold ourselves only to the highest standards of Arkansanness in our Arkansas-specific line of merchandise. That model will not be employed by Nātiv in any future Nātiv Arkansas shows, and she has been asked to return any merchandise she currently possesses that might suggest she was born in the Natural State.”
This incident has been the greatest challenge to the company’s public image since a shipment of Nātiv merchandise mistakenly ended up in a boutique on the Texas side of Texarkana in 2011. More than two hundred Texans purchased the shirts before Nātiv management, in conjunction with the Texas Rangers, rounded up the confused consumers and confiscated the merchandise.
Nātiv’s mission is to “provide high quality, relaxed, stylish apparel featuring unique original designs inspired by the place called home.” The company has thrived in bringing Arkansas to the world, and, since its launch, Nātiv apparel has been spotted in locations as varied as London, Baku, Gurdon, and Seoul.
Despite this most recent fiasco, Tucker noted that the model, Euphrasie La Chatte, who has lived in Ouachita County, Arkansas, since age two, is welcome to model for Nātiv’s sister company, Lōcl, which caters to people born in 49 other states, including her home state of Louisiana.
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OMG love this.