 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Clothing |
| Genre | Streetwear |
| Founded | 2001 |
| Founder | Shepard Fairey |
| Headquarters | Irvine, California, U.S. |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Products | General apparel for men and women |
| Brands | Obey Giant, Studio number one, Subliminal projects |
| Website | obeyclothing |
Obey Clothing (stylized in all caps) is an American streetwear company founded in 2001 by street artist and illustrator Shepard Fairey as an extension to his work in activism. The company appropriates themes and images used in its clothing from the John Carpenter film They Live . [1]
The brand is known for incorporating politically and socially provocative propaganda into the designs of their clothing, [2] such as its militaresque and working-class clothing designs. The logo was a physical extension of Fairey's Andre the Giant Has a Posse street art campaign, with the depiction of Andre the Giant being altered following a 1994 trademark lawsuit. The brand has collaborated with Keith Hufnagel's HUF and Levi Strauss, [3] as well as with artists Cope2 and Keith Haring, [1] singer Debbie Harry, [4] [5] and zine Pavement Licker . [6] Obey has also designed clothing with depictions of the revolutionary Che Guevara.
The brand has diminished in popularity following the mid-2010s, but is still active, with the FW18 collection release attempting to reestablish the brand. [7] On April 21, 2016, Mike Ternosky—Obey's head designer—received the 2016 Spirit of Design Award, an annual fashion design accolade given by Thomas Jefferson University. [8] From May 16 to October 27, 2024, the brand was displayed at the Fabbrica del Vapore in Milan, at an exhibition dedicated to Fairey, titled "Obey: The Art of Shepard Fairey". [9] In spring and summer 2022, the respective collection depicted fiestas. [10] In early 2023, furniture company Helinox collaborated with Obey, creating six pieces of portable furniture. [11]