The Triple Skull Hoodie (2007): The Piece That Wouldn’t Stay Gone
I made the first Triple Skull Hoodie on a whim one morning in Las Vegas in 2007. Bert McCracken asked for it, and people have been asking for it ever since.
The Triple Skull Hoodie started in 2007, on a whim, while I was in Las Vegas working on production. That’s where I did all my screen printing back then, plus other production when I needed it, like mass dyeing or spray painting.I woke up one morning, did my morning routine, walked over to my spray paint table, and the hoodie just came out of me.
Andrew Hanson’s original Triple Skull Hoodie reborn in 2024
How it came togetherBefore this, if I remember correctly, I was printing directly onto the clothing instead of making muslin patches and sewing them on.I chose yellow because it’s a color I love. The red, well, that one’s obvious. It didn’t pop at first, so I added a third accent color, and boom, the skull had depth.I had just picked up a grommet press for another job (a story for later). I thought grommets would really bring the skulls to life. Living in Los Angeles, the Day of the Dead skulls made a big impression on me, and looking back, I’m pretty sure that’s where the inspiration came from. I wanted the eyes to have depth too, so I used three different grommet sizes.
The Triple Skull Hoodie by Andrew Hanson
Bert and the rest of itWhen I got back to LA, I wore it to Bert’s house. If I remember correctly, he asked for it, and the rest is history.The Triple Skull showed up in so much promo. It probably got more play than anything else I ever made.About a year later, I started offering custom colors online. Clients could choose the three print colors and the grommet finish: nickel, brass or gunmetal.
The Used wearing the Triple Skull Hoodie on the cover of Alt Press Magazine 2007
People kept lookingOver the years, old clients and people who always wanted one kept trying to find me. Eventually they did, and I finally gave in and brought it back.Today people share old photos of the Triple Skull Hoodies they’ve kept all these years. That’s what gets me the most. It’s really something to see that people held on to them. Some have even passed them down to their kids.
One of the best dudes I know wearing his custom Triple Skull Hoodie, 2008
Here to stayWhen I first brought it back, I planned to make it limited and never make it again. But people kept asking, and it was never really a limited piece to begin with, so I gave in again.That’s it in a nutshell. The Triple Skull Hoodie is staying.Every one is still made the original way, by hand, by me. See the Triple Skull Hoodie Still have yours? Send me a photo. I’d love to see where it’s been.
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 artwear 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, artwear, 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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YRB picked me up at my first trade show in 2003. Two years later, I was running ads in their magazine featuring Bert McCracken of The Used, and getting regular product features.