Native / DC
DC culture made wearable.
Native is YEI’s youth-designed DC culture brand celebrating Chocolate City, Ward pride, community care, local legends, neighborhood identity, and the stories that shaped Washington, DC.
Through Native, young creatives turn culture, place, memory, and pride into apparel, journals, accessories, seasonal boxes, art products, and youth-made merchandise.
The Brand Story
A youth-made brand rooted in DC identity.
Native gives young people a way to design products that speak to where they are from, what they know, and what they want the world to remember about DC.
The brand celebrates the history, language, neighborhoods, style, and cultural pride of Washington, DC — especially communities East of the River and the legacy of Chocolate City.
Native is more than apparel. It is a youth-led creative space where culture becomes design, design becomes product, and product becomes a way to tell the story of home.
Featured Native Drops
Products that speak DC.
Native drops include bold apparel, community care messages, DC pride graphics, journals, accessories, and seasonal products designed by youth.
Don’t Walk By Hoodie
A community care hoodie reminding us to show up, lift up, and take care of our block.
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Ward 8 Is Not Trash Hoodie
A bold statement design about place, dignity, respect, and community responsibility.
Shop DesignRespectfully, I’m From Washington, DC
A classic DC pride design for people who know home is more than a place — it is a story.
Shop DesignRespectfully, This Is Still Chocolate City
A design rooted in memory, culture, history, and the ongoing legacy of Black Washington, DC.
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Native License Plate Design
A signature Native graphic inspired by DC identity, available in multiple colorways and products.
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DC Smiley / Be a Nice Neighbor
A playful Native design series rooted in kindness, neighborhood care, and DC pride.
Shop DesignDC Legends Collection
Can you name these Natives?
The DC Legends Collection celebrates iconic DC figures, local memory, creative influence, and the people who helped shape the culture.
This collection gives customers something to wear, talk about, and share — turning Native into a conversation about history, pride, and who gets remembered.
DC Culture Journals
Native stories, laser-cut into journals.
Native extends beyond apparel into youth-designed DC culture journals. These laser-cut journals honor local legends, DC quotes, neighborhood memory, and the creative voices that shaped the city.
Marion Barry Quote Journal
A laser-cut journal honoring DC leadership, excellence, and local legacy.
Be True to Yourself Journal
A quote journal inspired by authenticity, voice, and creative confidence.
Native Legends Journal
A portrait-style journal connected to local memory, culture, and the people who shaped DC.
Monuments + Movements Journal
A DC-inspired journal about creating change in the shadow of history.
Native Seasonal Box
DC’s best youth-made products, delivered seasonally.
The Native Seasonal Box is a quarterly youth-made product box featuring curated items from YEI social enterprises, Made By Youth product lines, and local youth entrepreneur brands.
Each box includes 5–10 youth-made items such as apparel, candles, body care, journals, stickers, accessories, small gifts, and limited-edition product drops.
Your subscription supports paid training, product development, vending experience, and entrepreneurship opportunities for young people.
How It Works
$59 each season. Four boxes per year.
Become a member of YEI’s Native Seasonal Box and receive a fresh box of curated youth-made products shipped directly to your door.
February Box
Ships 2nd week of February.
Billed: January 16
Order by: February 1
May Box
Ships 2nd week of May.
Billed: April 16
Order by: May 1
August Box
Ships 2nd week of August.
Billed: July 16
Order by: August 1
November Box
Ships 2nd week of November.
Billed: October 16
Order by: November 1
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. You can pause or cancel before the 16th of the billing month to avoid being charged for the upcoming seasonal box.
What is inside?
Each box includes a curated mix of youth-made products from YEI enterprises, Made By Youth product lines, and youth entrepreneur brands.
Can I share my box?
Yes. When your box arrives, tag YEI and use #yeidc to show off your youth-made merch and support young entrepreneurs.
Shop the Brand
DC culture products designed by youth.
Native includes apparel, journals, accessories, seasonal boxes, and cultural products inspired by DC pride, Ward identity, and neighborhood legacy.
Native Apparel
Shirts, hoodies, totes, and wearable designs rooted in DC culture, local pride, and youth creativity.
Native Box
A quarterly box featuring youth-made apparel, candles, body care, journals, stickers, and local youth brand products.
DC Culture Journals
Laser-cut journals inspired by Chocolate City, Marion Barry, Ward pride, neighborhoods, and DC legacy.
Accessories + Gifts
Keychains, stickers, tote bags, prints, and small gifts that make DC pride easy to carry.
Community Care Collection
Don’t walk by. Respect the block. Build it up.
The Community Care Collection uses apparel as a message. These designs remind us that place matters, people matter, and community care is everyone’s responsibility.
Designs like Don’t Walk By, Ward 8 Is Not Trash, and Be a Nice Neighbor help youth turn advocacy, pride, and neighborhood responsibility into wearable statements.
Community care. Show up. Lift up.
- Don’t Walk By
- Ward 8 Is Not Trash
- Be a Nice Neighbor
- Respect Your Block
- Take Care of Your People
More Than Merch
Culture is the product story.
Native teaches youth how to turn place-based storytelling into real products. Students explore how language, symbols, history, neighborhood pride, and cultural memory can shape a brand.
Youth learn to design with respect: honoring the community, understanding the meaning behind the phrase, and creating products that feel authentic to the people and places they represent.
DC pride. Ward identity. Neighborhood memory. Youth voice.
The best Native products feel like they could only come from DC — because they are designed by young people connected to the culture.
Product Types
Native can live on more than shirts.
Shirts + Hoodies
Wearable DC pride designs, neighborhood drops, Ward collections, and limited product releases.
Native Box
Seasonal boxes featuring youth-made products from YEI enterprises, Made By Youth lines, and youth businesses.
Journals
Laser-cut journals featuring DC history, cultural phrases, local icons, and neighborhood pride.
Accessories
Stickers, keychains, totes, prints, and products that make local pride easy to carry.
How Youth Create Native
From local story to product drop.
Research
Youth explore DC history, neighborhoods, phrases, culture, icons, style, and audience.
Design
Students create concepts, typography, graphics, mockups, color palettes, and product ideas.
Produce
Youth prepare files, press apparel, cut journals, package items, curate boxes, and check product quality.
Sell
Students present the story, vend at markets, talk to customers, track inventory, and learn sales.
Custom Requests
Need a custom Native-inspired order?
Native focuses on ready-made product drops, apparel, journals, seasonal boxes, and DC culture collections. Custom shirts, custom journals, group orders, event merch, and special design requests are handled through You Dream We Design.
Go to You Dream We Design
Request custom Native-inspired apparel, journals, bulk orders, event merchandise, banners, or branded products.
Start Custom RequestYouth-Made Impact
Every Native product is also a learning experience.
Native helps young people build skills in design, product development, apparel production, storytelling, box curation, customer service, branding, vending, and entrepreneurship.
When customers shop Native, they support youth using creativity to honor where they are from and build confidence in where they are going.
Shop Native
Wear the story. Carry the culture.
Shop Native apparel, Native Seasonal Box, DC culture journals, accessories, and community-inspired product drops from the Made By Youth ecosystem.