BRASS FIZZKNUCKLE

[September 19th, 2001]

When WW readers last saw Scot Hampton, he was accepting his first-place award from Adbusters' Creative Resistance Contest. It was for his series of photographs, "Know When to Say When," depicting the excesses of the new economy (see "Creative Resistance," WW, March 7, 2001).

So what comes after such royal anointment from the world's most vocal anti-corporate think tank? A line of hip-hop clothes, naturally.

That's right. Hampton doesn't easily fit the culture-jamming profile. Instead of doctoring billboards, he's finishing his degree in business and marketing at Portland State University and working part time as a college rep for Virgin Records (does industry get any more evil?). All this to help him formulate his business plan, raise capital and get his very own Fizzknuckle off the ground.

Fizzknuckle is a made-up word, a corruption of the word "shiznat" (whose derivation is way too drawn-out to go into here). It also refers to Hampton's shaky hands as he sits at his computer to design. And what he designs are light, bubbly graphics with perky handles like "Analog Attraction" and "Freestyle Profile" that are screenprinted onto such items as T-shirts, tank dresses and a whole cute petting zoo of cotton separates. Hampton sells these critters at hip-hop shows, as well as scenester supply shoppes such as Poker Face .

One does wish positive-minded "outsider" designers would venture beyond silkscreened T-shirts. And although they're a handy antidote to corporate logos, I wonder whether graphic-heavy street designs like Fizzknuckle's don't ultimately serve the same function of branding and sloganeering Hampton won his award for rebelling against. Yeah, but the message, man, the message is like, SO DIFFERENT.

The effervescent-sounding Fizzknuckle does seem just right for clingy garments in soda-pop pastels of mint, raspberry and root beer. The women's T-shirts come rolled in small boxes with a Fizz Philosophy printed on the side ("No playa hatin'"; "floss daily"). It's all so very feel-good--as Hampton puts it, "I want Fizzknuckle to be soft enough to masturbate in"--that one wonders how this venture relates to the Creative Resistance project.

Hampton is quick to point out connections with Adbusters anti-corporate ethos. He says he's committed to producing all pieces from organic cotton and, after strenuous research, has located a supplier in Texas that provides what he needs.

"Profit potential doesn't warrant the depletion of natural resources," Hampton insists. "I don't care what my cost's going to be--I won't compromise quality or the environment with my designs."

Hampton came to design via a path that has had more loopy loops than you would ever expect of someone so young (he's only 31). A graduate of David Douglas High School, it was at the even younger age of 19 that Hampton ran off to join the Shrine Circus. He played saxophone and "lived with the clowns," then followed up his circus time with a 10-year tenure playing bass for a long list of indie-rock bands (anyone remember Sugarboom?).

So where does he get his fashion chops? His mother. She taught him to sew as a kid. He also said he found inspiration during a stint working with the Stagehands Union. This all led him to try his hand at putting garments together.

The synchronicity of fashion, hip-hop, organic cotton and his own past isn't immediately apparent, but after talking to Hampton, it all starts to make sense.

"People hate ...the corporate structure," he says, "but they use it as an excuse to continue their behavior." In other words, we paint a bleak picture of corporate lockdown in order to continue our habits of resource depletion, greed and consumption (Hampton calls it "endemic frivolity"). He believes the positive messages of hip-hop groups like Jurassic 5 (dignity, respect for self and others, community-mindedness) dovetail with the payback he thinks is owed the environment.

But does good politics good fashion make? If you think so, locally it can be yours for around $20.

Billy Bragg said it best--revolution is just a T-shirt away.

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AI Graduate Portfolio Show
Check out graduate portfolio work in interior design and apparel design (as well as the Art Institute of Portland's other disciplines) at this group show. Parkside Center, Suite 150, 2020 SW 4th Ave., 228-6528. 4-8 pm Thursday, Sept. 20.

London Fashion Week
Check Style.com for regular news updates and images from the fall shows, where designers from the Continent will offer a peek at their spring 2002 collections.