The Not Real Shirt
2000–2001. High school. One of the very first shirts I ever made, and the first time I hand-dyed a t-shirt. Every letter of “Not Real” is cut from something in my life, from a friend’s jeans to an old R2-D2 shirt.
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.
The Original F Shirt - 2000
Before the archive. Before the labels. Before artcore had a name. The Original F Shirt was the first piece that transformed an idea into a lifelong practice of handmade artcore and experimentation. 26 years of Clothing That Speaks® starts here..
Do you remember the first time something stopped being an idea and became part of who you are?
For me, it was this shirt.
Original F Shirt (2000) by Andrew Hanson
The year was 2000. Before the archive. Before Clothing That Speaks. Before artcore had a name.
Just an obsession with taking things apart and seeing what they could become.
The piece started with a Neon Genesis Evangelion shirt I found in Milan. At the time, I didn't have the vocabulary for what I was doing. I was pulling inspiration from everywhere at once—anime, underground graphics, counter culture, deconstructed fashion, art, music, whatever spoke to me.
Original F Shirt (2000), close-up of Neon Genesis Evangelion anime graphic
I was heavily influenced by DIESEL back then. They had this way of treating clothing like an experiment instead of a product. Like a lot of people, I looked at it and thought:
"I could do that."
So I did.
My mom handled the stitching. I directed the vision. Together we transformed something that already existed into something entirely different.
Original F Shirt (2000), close-up of the sewn F
And that's when it happened.
That shift.
The moment clothing stopped being something I wore and became something I created.
I wore the piece to school as a sophomore and the reaction was immediate. People noticed. People asked questions. I ended up making a few more for others, but none of them carried the same energy.
2000, Andrew Hanson wearing the Original F Shirt in high school
This one was different.
Maybe because it was the first.
Maybe because it was the moment everything started.
What makes it even stranger is that it has no label. No Clothing That Speaks tag. No signature. No branding.
I've never added one.
Original F Shirt (2000), collar detail
To this day, it's the only piece in the archive I've intentionally left that way.
Looking back now, I realize this wasn't just a shirt.
It was a blueprint.
The first spark in what would become 26 years of handmade work, experimentation, artcore, community and one-of-one creations.
Long before algorithms. Long before hype cycles. Long before everyone was calling everything a brand.
This piece reminds me that the best work usually starts the same way:
With curiosity.
With instinct.
With making something because you feel like it needs to exist.
This is where the archive begins.
— Clothing That Speaks
Born in LA. This is the Art.
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Made in 2002 for a fashion show that never happened. A burned flag, a folk hero’s fist and a lyric I still stand behind.