DIST/DNMX x HASTE
I became aware of Ash Thorp around 8 years ago, when searching for the artist who was behind some of the most incredible visual design language I have ever seen. His work is ridiculous, from another world. Some of my favorite projects he has worked on are the Nike x Acronym Vapormax campaign, 3D graphics for James Bond and Prometheus, and vehicle design of the current generation Batmobile. I then discovered his ability to craft new vehicle concepts, taking older cars and turning them into something extraordinarily futuristic, while still feeling like a relic from the past. An example of this is his project EVINETTA, where he turned a 1970s Ferrari concept car, into a modern hypercar with full film to support the vision. This turned into his industrial design brand, HASTE, alongside mastermind Carlos Pacino aka @Colorsponge.
The signature DNA I see when looking at HASTE projects, is a combination of past, future, damage, and human. Nothing is perfect, nothing looks like it is fresh out of the showroom, none of it looks like something the average person would like, and none of it is mainstream. It's like an underground design lab, where you can clearly see they are making things that satisfy their own taste as the first priority, without giving any thought or energy into what anyone else would think about it. This is an approach that speaks directly to me, and something I have always embraced when making music.
I wanted to capture this DNA in wearable items that look and feel like they are from the HASTE universe. I also wanted the influence music has played in my life to show through in a non obvious way. We chose ultra premium washed black garment dyed items for the T and long sleeve, to replicate the worn looking matte black finishes that HASTE use in their vehicle designs. Off-white colored inks to lessen the "pristine" look that classic white ink has, and a faded coral red as a call out to the illuminated tail light color on vehicles. We added a coded graphic to the right arm sleeve, the arm you would use to shift a vehicle, which translates to "imagination is your weapon against reality". Each garment has a sewn on label with "Design - Reality - Construct" minimalistic branding, and each features a unique back graphic. The crew sweatshirt is super heavy pure black, and extremely soft on the inside. We chopped up a few of these in pre-production making cropped versions for fun with chopped sleeve cuffs- highly recommended to experiment with this one!
We thought of this as the anti-team uniform, imagining this on a midnight pit crew running secretive vehicle tests in the middle of the night. It's an anti-flag for the design community, a sort of secret handshake for those who wish to remain hidden in plain sight.
-Brandon
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