Obey vs. Obey Clothing.

“I’ve been hearing some cries of “SELLOUT!” over the various products for sale. I put all the profits back into more stickers and posters for the street, because that is my love, not money. People have different reasons for liking GIANT and I can understand people not wanting to see it leave the underground niche it has enjoyed for so many years. All I can say is that even in the commercial applications of OBEY/GIANT I am attempting to retain the rebellious spirit of the street project.” ~ Shepard Fairey

For more on his prolific “selling out,” click here.

 

I used to live in Boston, and OBEY stuff was everywhere…but it was anti-croproate, anti-The-Man stickerage, street art, illegal.

Now it’s big business. Now it’s made in China, sold in Urban Outfitters and worn (and marketed by) the YOLO D-bag set. Still, it’s backed loosely by good-guy Shepard Fairey, and it supports some good things.

So I was curious, and watched some videos (at bottom) and read up on some word on the street (via Reddit comments) as to how we got from underground to sell-out. ~ ed.

The below quotes come via OBEY fans on Reddit:

“…[in buying the tee shirts I’m] supporting one of my favorite artists. Obey can be dated back to 1989 starting with the “Andre the Giant Has a Posse” (http://imgur.com/UdiwZ) campaign started by a street artist named Shepard Fairey. Basically he put it everywhere and it blew up and led that into this: http://imgur.com/lSpNT. That is pretty much all he did to get known was put that shit literally anywhere and everywhere as an “experiment in phenomenology” Well it blew up over time, more so in the past 5-6 years, its expanded exponentially with all the “hipster” teens and party kids hence all the hatred in this thread.

“The clothes aren’t that great anymore. They used to be made in America but now it’s done overseas, so therefore the quality is super shitty now. He pretty much just licensed the name to a group of 4 guys who control the fashion half while he just does his ‘art.'”

“…why he used the name “OBEY”. He got it from an 1988 film called “They Live”(http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096256/?ref_=sr_2) If you haven’t seen it, watch it. It’s entertaining and honestly quite true. The story behind this film is the theme he chose for his art. Also Shepard Fairey doesn’t really have a whole lot of input when it comes to the clothing, never really did, he just focuses on OBEY GIANT, which does all the prints. Watch a documentary called “Exit Through the Gift Shop” (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1587707/) this talks about him some but mainly Mr. Brainwash (who is a talentless ass) and Banksy.”