Given that Fugazi have never shown any inclination whatsoever to sell merchandise, the launch of a news Fugazi x Vans trainers collection has raised eyebrows, and raised hackles online. Not least because this new collection has absolutely nothing to do with the Washington DC hardcore band.
“I’m guessing someone from vans will reach out to us,” Dischord Records, the label co-founded and owned by Fugazi vocalist/guitarist Ian MacKaye posted on Instagram in response to Vans launching the line by offering free pairs of trainers to those showing up at Vans Le Marais in Paris.
The Fugazi that Vans are collaborating with is a Los Angeles streetwear company founded in 2018 by entrepreneur Trevor Gorji. In a hilariously over-the-top profile of the brand by NSS magazine, its described as “a brand that would defy norms and make luxury accessible without compromising on quality.”
“Fugazi’s success is not just about its products,” the profile states. “The brand stands out for its narrative approach and commitment to the community… Each collection is accompanied by reflections on themes of authenticity, illusion, and resistance.”
Forgive us if the irony here proves too much for you.
In case there was any doubt whatsoever that Gorji’s company’s collaboration with Vans is no in way affiliated with the band, Dischord Records also posted on the streetwear company’s Instagram, “We have nothing to do with this to be clear.”
When a skateboard company called Animus replied, “you should be, things change and no shame in the game, you deserve it”, Dischord replied with a ‘thoughtful face’ emoji which here roughly translates as “Have you got the slightest fucking idea about our ethics?”
Capitalism, of course, abhors a vacuum, and if one of the most popular and inspirational bands from America’s underground punk scene has zero interest in producing T-shirts, posters, hoodies or any other branded paraphernalia, then bootleggers have only to happy to take up the reins.
Type ‘Fugazi T-shirt’ into any search engine and you’ll see scores of designs for sale on Amazon, Etsy and elsewhere. None are official merch, or in any way endorsed by the band, who have been on hiatus since completing a three-night stand at London’s Kentish Town Forum in November 2002.
There is, however, one interesting outlier within the bootleg Fugazi T-shirt universe, a T-shirt bearing the slogan ‘This Is Not A Fugazi T-Shirt’.
In the mid-90s, Ian MacKaye traced one of these ‘fugazi’ Fugazi shirts to a company in Boston, he revealed in an interview conducted for The Art Of The Band T-Shirt, and spoke with the main guy, telling him to desist.
“Of course, he wanted to do a deal,” MacKaye said. “And, of course, the answer was still no. Still, we had a nice chat. He was curious why we didn’t want to sell shirts, and after I explained our position, he seemed to respect it. About one month later, a friend at a record store alerted me to the ‘This is not a Fugazi t-shirt’ shirt. I traced it back to the same Boston dude. What a smart motherfucker he was!”
“I called him up,” MacKaye continued, “and said, Okay, you’re funny and you’re creative, so let’s see how creative you are with accounting. I asked him to choose an organization doing good work in his community and give them what would amount to the band’s royalty for the shirts. I think he chose a women’s shelter up there, and as far as I know he sent them money right up until he quit the business.”
In 2013, a writer for defunkd followed up on the story, and learned that the owner of the T-shirt company did indeed honour his pledge to MacKaye, and donated money from every shirt sold to a women’s homeless shelter in Boston named Rosie’s Place.
