From Hide to Haute Couture: The Point Blanket Coat

ORIGIN: FASHION FORGED IN SURVIVAL
The Hudson’s Bay Point Blanket wasn’t born on a runway—it was born in trade, cold, and survival. First produced in 1779, the striped wool blanket moved through British North America as currency, exchanged for beaver pelts in the brutal economy of the fur trade. But its most radical transformation didn’t happen in factories or stores. It happened in Indigenous and Métis hands—where utility became identity, and fabric became defiance.

THE BIRTH OF THE CAPOTE: DESIGN IN MOTION
Cut, folded, and reimagined into the capote, the blanket turned into the most iconic outerwear of the North American subarctic. The capote emerged from the Red River Settlement (present-day Winnipeg), then travelled through the arteries of the continent—the Great Lakes, the Churchill and Saskatchewan river systems, the boreal forests, and into the Rocky Mountain foothills. This was not fashion made for display; this was fashion made for movement.

THE TRUE DESIGNERS: INDIGENOUS INNOVATION
The true designers of the capote were the Métis—born from the union of First Nations women and European fur traders. Positioned between two worlds, they engineered a garment that merged European wool with Indigenous construction logic. The result? A hooded coat that was weatherproof, modular, and deeply symbolic. Cree and Anishinaabe communities pushed it further, layering the surface with intricate floral beadwork—each stitch carrying memory, territory, and identity.

FROM MILL TO BODY: A COLONIAL SUPPLY CHAIN REWIRED
The supply chain itself reads like a conceptual fashion map:
England’s mills → Colonial ships → Trading forts → Indigenous and Métis makers → Recut into capotes → Worn across a continent in motion.

CONSTRUCTION AS STRATEGY: ZERO-WASTE, MAXIMUM FUNCTION
Construction was ruthless and intelligent. The blanket was cut asymmetrically to preserve the stripe down the front—zero waste before sustainability had a name. Bone, antler, and wood toggles replaced metal that would freeze. Fur lined the hood. Beaded panels turned survival gear into visual language. The Métis sash cinched the body like armor—functional, decorative, defiant.

THE CAPOTE AS UNIFORM, DIPLOMACY, AND NATIONHOOD
The capote became:
• Survival wear for voyageurs and hunters
• A social uniform of the fur trade world
• A diplomatic object exchanged between nations
• A visual flag of Métis nationhood

It was worn at treaty tables and on frozen river routes. It stood at the intersection of power, trade, resistance, and craft. Today, it still appears on global stages—from state gifts to international Indigenous representation.

DESIGN STATEMENT
The capote is not just a coat.
It is colonial material hacked by Indigenous design.
It is fashion born from pressure.
It is identity cut from survival.

Before luxury. Before branding. Before fashion weeks—there was the capote. And it still speaks.

CULTURAL REVIVAL & CEREMONY
Today, the capote no longer lives only in history—it moves through ceremony, celebration, and reclamation. Worn at powwows, graduations, and cultural gatherings, it becomes a visual declaration of Indigenous pride. For Métis and First Nations leaders and elders, the capote functions as ceremonial regalia—an armour of ancestry worn with authority. What was once survival wear is now legacy wear.

POLITICAL FASHION
The capote has entered the arena of power. It appears at government meetings, protests, and reconciliation events as a deliberate statement of sovereignty. Indigenous politicians wear it in Parliament and at state functions—not as costume, but as identity. The message is clear: Indigenous presence is not symbolic, it is structural.

CONTEMPORARY ART & DESIGN
Across global fashion weeks, Indigenous designers are reworking the capote as runway language—reshaping history through silhouette, textile, and surface design. In museums, it is no longer frozen behind glass but positioned as living art and political commentary. In luxury fashion, modern interpretations emerge using blanket wool, traditional striping, and beadwork—heritage translated into contemporary form without erasure.

EDUCATIONAL PLATFORM
The capote has become a wearable classroom. It teaches the fur trade era through Indigenous perspectives rather than colonial narratives. It demonstrates Indigenous innovation in material science, thermal engineering, and construction logic. Its zero-waste cutting, durability, and modular function position it as an early model of sustainable design—long before sustainability became strategy.

MODERN COLLABORATION: PENDLETON & INDIGENOUS DESIGNERS
Pendleton’s contemporary “blanket coats” directly reference the historic capote, using the same dense, insulating wool reinterpreted for modern wardrobes. But the shift that truly matters is collaborative power. By partnering with Indigenous designers like Bethany Yellowtail, Pendleton allows Indigenous artists to lead the creative direction—blending wool with traditional beadwork and cultural design systems. These collaborations ensure visibility, authorship, and fair compensation—fundamentally rewriting the exploitative blueprint of the fur trade.

Pendleton also supplies blanket wool to independent Indigenous designers, who transform it into handmade, beaded, narrative-driven garments. Here, the blanket becomes canvas. The coat becomes protest. The craft becomes economy.

This is not revival through nostalgia.
This is survival through evolution.

The capote has crossed centuries, systems, and silencing. What once moved through colonial trade routes now walks global runways, political halls, classrooms, and ceremonies. It is no longer just worn.

It is spoken.
It is seen.
It is claimed.