This collection is dedicated to to my friends and family, who have inspired me enough to break through my anxiety over money and self-investment to make make my vision for what fashion, streetwear, and art can be.
artist statement:
Over the past few years I have gotten to know the streetwear, street art, and art industry as a whole, and I’ve come to a few conclusions.
Influential figures and gatekeepers dominate the culture and determine what is considered “cool” or valuable, leading everyone to covet the same looks and pieces. The value which they imbue onto these pieces is what we know as “hype”.
Today, the majority of consumers tend to see more value in the cultural relevancy of a brand or design and are more likely to invest heavily in branded t-shirts and shoes to signify wealth and gain “social currency” over finding pieces and original creators that speak to their personal sensibilities.
In an effort to participate in the industry they love, artists are often forced to hustle their way to success, producing trendy, derivative designs, putting insane amounts of money into marketing, and charging insane prices, usually at the cost of quality and storytelling.
None of these things are inherently wrong, but they suck.
Following in the footsteps of my hero Virgil Abloh and indie brands like Fugazi and Unfinished Legacy, I envisioned a subversive project that would simultaneously question and participate in the phenomenon of “hype”.
So I saved up over the course of a year, developed a “brand philosophy”, created an aesthetic rooted in what I believe to be valuable, built relationships in the industry, and went through the process of creating my first collection of “streetwear”.
I present to you “issue 001: i saved up for this”