The scene is a familiar one, at least to me: I'm standing in the TSA Pre-Check line at San Francisco International Airport, hoisting my bags up onto the metal conveyor belt rollers, relieved to be able to keep my shoes on and my laptop in its rightful place. What happens next, though, is a deviation. A cheerful woman fidgeting in front of me, undeterred by my involuntary Resting Bitch Face, points at my black sweatshirt, which is printed with "Cuervo No Chaser" in white, sans-serif block letters. "Are you a bad ass?" she asks. "That means you're a bad ass, right?"
At first, I'm not quite sure what she's talking about. But then I remember that, after a year of many, many plane rides, I have made the decision to wear the "Cuervo No Chaser" sweatshirt outside of the house. It is the most comfortable sweatshirt I own. I put it on almost every morning when I wake up to make coffee, along with a pair of oversized Nike sweatpants. For the plane, I upgrade a bit, wearing my APC x Outdoor Voices "comfy" pants, which are relaxed but also nice enough to wear to work with a blazer on a no-meetings day.
Instead of playing defense, I force a smile and say something like, "Yes, indeed!" I may be a badass in some context, but the truth is I have not sipped Cuervo maybe ever, and while I don't think I would require a chaser, I guess tequila is better with a lime slice.
I have no idea where this sweatshirt came from -- it's some random swag that showed up at my apartment with no note a couple of years ago. I now know "Cuervo No Chaser" is a lyric from Beyonce's "Formation," which I respect and enjoy. I am happy that it makes me seem like a badass, but I wear it because it feels better than any other piece of clothing I have ever owned.
Yep, what is actually badass about this sweatshirt is the sweatshirt itself. The company that makes it is called Canvas, and it deals exclusively in "blanks" — the plain clothing that serves as the basis for "merch." You can only buy Canvas' t-shirts, sweatshirts, underwear, etc. in bulk. For years, American Apparel was the go-to blanks brand, long before it sold its wares directly to the consumer. Its founder, Dov Charney, has created another blanks business —
Los Angeles Apparel Company — and is already selling DTC through its e-commerce.
I really like the Los Angeles Apparel Company's cuts and silhouettes, just as I was always a fan of American Apparel. But while I might buy something from Carney's new(ish) project, the structured, dry feel of the cotton just can't compare in tactility to
Canvas' sponge fleece drop-shoulder sweatshirt.
"Merch" was a big fashion story this year, as it has been for the past couple of years. It reflects what's happening in politics and society more than any other trend I've personally experienced. This was a year of uncertainty and unrest that couldn't be masked by a robust economy. It's no coincidence that many of the most popular merch motifs steal from working class culture and uniforms; the stock market may have had its best year ever, but things haven't gotten easier for those in so-called Trumpland.
I edited a piece over the summer where the writer
asked if we've reached"peak" merch. Of that, I am not sure, although I suspect printing slogans on t-shirts and other gear will once again be relegated to little league teams in a few year's time.
What won't be going away, however, is the need and desire for comfort and wearing things that bring us a sense of security. I certainly won't be retiring my "Cuervo No Chaser" sweatshirt, and I've recently added one new piece of merch to my wardrobe. It's a
$40 "Gamucci" t-shirt, a collaboration between the wine writer Marissa A. Ross and winemaker VDC that riffs on the Gucci logo. In the past year, I've become obsessed with natural wine. Ross' book,
Wine All the Time, has made "getting into" it all the more enjoyable. What makes this t-shirt the best, though, is not its ode to Gamay. It's that it was printed on a soft, luxurious Canvas t-shirt. Coincidence? I think not.
What I Liked That I Wrote This Year (In No Particular Order): 
No comments:
Post a Comment