HERO RODEO The rugged Rocky Mountain front of Montana with its wide and rolling prairies, steep pine covered mountains and clear, shimmering lakes is as far as one can imagine from the bright lights and runaways of the fashion world. It is however, in this most unlikely of spots, that a small Native American owned business is making splashes in the fashion world’s pond.The Company that has cast the ripple causing stones is Hero Rodeo. While new to the fashion industry, Hero Rodeo is no stranger to causing a stir in the marketplace. The company has a history of innovation. The owners, Ben and Christine Collins, are proud to call their Montana home of Browning the business headquarters, and they attribute much of the company’s success to the help and support of family and friends.Hero Rodeo is proud of its Native American roots and inspires people from all walks of life. Founded in 2017 by Ben Collins, a cowboy hat sporting entrepreneur, Hero Rodeo has developed a hatful of handy and useful products. The company’s first product was called the Hero Breakaway; it was a money and time saving device used by cowboys and cowgirls while they practiced the skill of roping cattle. With the help of an Avon Lake, Ohio based company called 3dworxs that specializes in bringing ideas to life, more products were soon ready for retail shelves. The Hero Breakaway was quickly followed up by its predecessor the Super Hero Breakaway and a product for young cowboys and cowgirls called the Sidekick Breakaway. According to the company’s founder, “We like to develop products that are useful [to our customers] and solve some sort of a problem. Our most important goal with any product is to somehow make lives [of our customers] better.”
Hero Rodeo has a reputation of innovation that is embraced wholeheartedly by everyone involved with the company. Some would say that Hero Rodeo and its team members, are cut from a different cloth.And perhaps, it was that different cloth that led Christine and her daughters Mikalen and Jonilee Running Fisher to spearhead a clothing division in the company. Christine Collins, Jonilee Running Fisher and Mikalen Running Fisher are all enrolled members of the Blackfeet Tribe and were raised on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation of northern Montana. It was this wild, big sky land and the rich, living, ancient traditions of tribal culture that helped this fashion trio form their uniquely native sense of style and a passion for authenticity. Their keen eye for validity in native fashion has led to the creation of several of styles of shirts, skirts, jackets, coats, and caps. Native Americans have a unique style that is found in the numerous different outfits and regalia. Clothing made by indigenous peoples was not only beautiful and eye catching but functional as well. For untold millennia Native Americans of all tribes intricately beaded, sewed, painted and adorned their clothing. Every item was unique and expertly made by hand. The ingenuity and the individuality of each garment was incredible; indeed, each item was a work of art custom fitted and designed to reflect the personality of its owner. Traditionally, many different items were used on clothing to display an individual’s conquests or their societal status. Some of the most common items used for decoration were feathers, hides of various animals, elk ivory, claws, horns or carved bones. Native American clothing was built for function. Individual tribes had specialized techniques for producing clothing that was best suited to their climate and way of life. Ages of experience passed orally through generations allowed indigenous Americans to survive and thrive in style.
32 | Hope Is Now Magazine
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