The first dye
The year is 2000 or 2001. It’s a little foggy, but I’m in high school, and this is one of the very earliest shirts I ever made. I believe this was the first time I hand-dyed a t-shirt. My dad showed me Rit dye, and it changed the entire game. I’m sure I tie-dyed as a kid, but it had never crossed my mind to dye my own shirt. This shirt used to be bright yellow. If you look closely, you can still see a white stripe running through the sleeve and the center of the chest. It was my take on tie-dye, a way to give it an accent.
Not Real, 2000. One of one. Seven letters, each cut from a different fabric and sewn on by hand, with a red anarchy A painted through the middle.
Spelling out “Not Real”
Each letter is an appliqué cut from something in my life, finished with fabric marker:
N: plaid, a nod to punk rock
O: a Jesus fish, made from a sweater I had and my computer chair
T: a blue cross, cut from a pair of denim jeans a friend gave me
R: another t-shirt I chopped up, the same color as the shirt, so it’s there and not there at the same time
E: R2-D2, cut from an R2-D2 shirt I had. I love Star Wars
A: for anarchy, obviously
L: a piece of linen I had lying around
Every letter is a different fabric: plaid, red loop knit, frayed denim, printed jersey, canvas. No two are stitched the same way.
The sleeves
The way I cut the sleeves was strategic. I didn’t just chop them. I cut big gashes, then rolled and pulled the fabric out. That technique came from Sam Kieth, the artist who illustrated The Maxx, one of my favorite comic books growing up.
Sleeves cut raw, threads left hanging. Twenty-plus years of wear, kept as is.
Where it started
Looking at it now, a lot of what I still do started right here: hand-dyeing, cutting up pieces of my own life and turning them into something new, and making clothing that asks a question.
The label says it: Andrew Hanson, Los Angeles, 1/1.