I have never really liked labels. Not societal ones anyway. There’s no sense of enigma when you want to define something. The best art is not defined. Sure, it can be categorised by a movement or year, Cubism for example, but that doesn’t define it. To label is to remove that objects fluidity. If you were at a Zoo, you’d probably point to a Lion who was naturally a bit fed up and say, “that Lion’s depressed”. In that moment you have taken away the power and raw energy of that creature. Yes, he is probably upset that he’s not roaming a bountiful field out in the wild, but if he was, he would probably be feeling completely different. Labels, in that sense are not only temporary, but useless. My boy Plato took this idea to a whole new level with his “Idea of Form’s” concept. But unlike Plato, he wasn’t out here trying to buy a circa 90s single stitch screen stars T shirt #vintage. In other words, when it comes to clothing labels, a lot of that psychology 101 type of stuff is thrown out the window. Luckily for us, t shirts are inanimate but are given life through their owner. Unless you’re copping a Primarni Harry Potter graphic T in which case no matter what you think, both you and Gryffindor do not ‘win’.
I do in fact enjoy a clothing label. It not only provides you with the date the item was made, but it also can look hella cool. It started with Nike T shirts and my love for the circa 2000s grey label. This was a wonderful design era for Nike in my opinion. It was the turn of the millennium and brands were out there trying to adopt new and futuristic styles. These years saw the company taking air max in a different direction, one that would later become a huge aesthetic on social media a decade later.
I then delved into vintage t shirts thanks to the Round Two Episodes and more specifically Sean Wotherspoon. His love for them had me appreciating terms like “single stitch” and “Hanes Beef Tees” like never before. Soon after came a short spell with Levi’s denim and trying to find Made in USA, 80s/90s pairs. This lasted several months where I was scouring the web looking for orange tabs and silver tabs. When you’re out on the lookout for these specific items, you learn about the different product and marketing iterations that the brand went through year-by-year which is the another hugely interesting part of these hobbies. There are people out there dating jeans simply from the amount of belt loops and types of pocket stitching; it’s just so crazy and cool how people can become experts in such a niche field. I am most certainly here for it.
I’m currently going through a Patagonia phase which hopefully will consist of many joyous knowledge and eBay finds, but only time will tell. After reading B Magazine’s Patagonia Issue on them and being halfway through let my people go surfing, I think the brand has been paving the way for so many years and will continue to do so. It will only be a matter of time before you see other fast fashion companies having to downsize and revert to more eco-friendly options. At least that’s my opinion. Whilst I do enjoy YT’s Arc’teryx track, I cannot help but disagree with him when he says, “we don’t run no Patagonia”. Either way, I’ll gladly run it up whilst others are sleeping.
wear shoes, write poems 