Inspired by Ireland, Made in Los Angeles
The kangaroo pouch is printed before being cut and sewn onto the hoodie. The Cola logo is neatly embroidered on the left breast. On the back, the logo repeats on a peekaboo label under the hood. My new “Primo Shit” woven tag is sewn inside the neck. This array of work—all done in the Los Angeles—accounts for one of my most intensely detailed designs to date.
Why the IRA Hoodie Provokes and the Union Jack Doesn’t
People sometimes try to gotcha me with, “The IRA killed civilians! How DARE you glamorize them in your designs?” So. Geri from the Spice Girls wore the Union Jack as a sequined body suit, without anyone asking if she supported Bloody Sunday, the 1972 massacre in which British soldiers shot 26 Irish demonstrators, murdering 14 of them. Every November, English soccer managers pin red poppies to their lapels, without sports commentators referencing the barbaric atrocities committed by British troops for the sake of empire.
Who Shot First: Misogyny, Police Misconduct, and Colonialism
For every “terrorist” or “murderer” whose exploits I celebrate, there is an assailant—and a system—who acted first. (I want to be clear, I do celebrate Aileen Wuornos, Chris Dorner, and the IRA—albeit as folk heroes, not private individuals.) Aileen defended herself against violent men, as well as the societal structures that forced her into dangerous sex work in the first place. Dorner reacted to both the racism of the LAPD, and the rotten core of policing in toto. The IRA rifleman takes aim at Britain’s attempt at genocide in Ireland, while also representing resistance to all forms of authoritarian rule. But somehow those instigators go unnoticed by my critics, who happily demonize those who throw stones at oncoming tanks, as it were. It’s almost as if my critics have a bias toward power.
