Art as Clap Back

What do you do when a company that makes "flash fashion" slaps your art on the ass of skinny jeans and sells them without your permission? How angry would you be if this art was the piece of art that you are MOST protective of because of the place it has held for survivors from around the world as the illustration to their #MeToo stories? Imagine if that company used your name in the product description and said you "inspired it" whilst encourage women to "pair it with a bodysuit and boots for the ultimate babe vibes". Well, that totally happened.

Here’s what I did about it…

I privately messaged the company on various social networking platforms and waited 24 hours for a response (no response).

I posted publicly about the issue on social media and received a response from them almost immediately, requesting a call.

They removed the product from the website and all traces from social media.

I scheduled a call and spoke with a guy named Mike. It was a deeply disappointing call. It started with a non-apology, an offer of a licensing agreement, an offer of "more credit", and finally an offer of $250.

I declined their offers.

They asked me to remove my blog article and social media posts about the situation and I declined.

My legal council sent them a letter (April 13th).

I sent them the same letter in email form (April 13).

I emailed them again to confirm they were going to ignore me (May 9th).

I got an email from the legal department telling me they would respond in due course (May 10th).

While this was happening I felt "inspired" to create some response pieces to the situation...

Because humans are amazing and inspiring and generally down to defend and support, folks started to indicate a desire to make their own upcycled fashion jeans.

I created a tutorial and posted it on my blog so everyone could participate!

Two very clever humans from Instagram coined it #reBUTTal (thank you @evesimmance and @nikkitrudell12...still loling every time I say it).

Girl, oh girl did folks deliver!

Feminists have some things to say. They have some opinions on the commodification of feminism and art, copyright infringement, fast fashion and its impact on humans and the environment, capitalism, and the male gaze to name a few. They are taking up a needle and thread and stitching their rage into action. No need to buy shitty jeans with feminist messages being sold back to us as "fashion". We will DIY our own fashion and rock messages of our own choosing. We will gather IRL and virtually and create together. We are not falling for corporate greed scams, worker and environmental exploitation, or the commodification of our movement! Hellz no. We will stitch up our own resistance and pair it with whatever the hell we want for the ultimate 'fuck you' vibes. 

Want to participate? Grab your jeans, hit the tutorial, stitch it up, take a pic, post it on Instagram, tag it #reBUTTal, and rock your jeans with pride. See someone out and about rocking a pair? Go high-five them and make a new friend! You are both badasses. And like all stitching, it is more fun with friends! Get a group together and talk about stuff that matters while you stitch your jeans of resistance. 

It didn’t end there. I had the privilege of being one of three finalists for the International Nasty Woman Art Prize and got to travel to London for the Anti Art Fair. The piece I created was a continuation of the #reBUTTal project complete with a custom #reBUTTal top hat and tie (because nothing says white male capitalism like a top hat and tie - and the challenge was to create something for the head of the amazing Lady Kitt). Additionally, we had a group stitch-up and folks stitched their own pockets. Take that LaSula!