Pnk #1 (Unisex/M cheapest 30)

This piece is a part of a site specific project about Troost avenue in KC, MO. This area serves as irrefutable evidence of a racial divide: one side has been neglected and the other has clearly flourished as a result of redlining practices during the development of KC.

I ended up making a hand-cut stencil that served as an illustration of this part of Troost. I then took the stencil and used fabric spray paint to apply the drawing onto fabric to make clothes with. The spray paint serves as a direct reference to street art and urban streetwear.

Along with this concept, I'd also been focusing on the idea of common streetwear vs luxury streetwear. I wanted to use this as a metaphor for the divide on Troost. Most often, luxury streetwear takes ideas from common streetwear, elaborates on them or exaggerates them, and up-sells them back to the crowd it was stealing from: similar to housing practices that have taken place on Troost in the past.

The shirt above was meant to be a parody of luxury streetwear. This collection utilizes slashing and fraying as many luxury streetwear brands do to mimic an overused cheapest and tattered look. I also wanted to use an unnecessary amount of cloth because in the eyes of Art History, excess fabric generally translates to excess wealth. The pants were made to match the shirt, although they stand on their own as well.