New Style Warrior Tee: DUMP KOCH

Style Warrior don't sleep. Fact.

They're back with a new t-shirt design strictly for the ageing b-boys amongst us.
The simple 'Dump Koch' is a double-whammy. Using the infamous message from SPIN's famous NYC subway train piece from 1982 and marrying it with a certain other slogan's typography - Make Your Mark IN Society Not ON Society - this tee is a must for all old school fans.

Mayor Ed Koch was governing New York City at the time and faced a losing battle against the subway artists of the day who grew more fearless as well as progressively more artistic in their bigger and bolder productions on the Transit line.

Koch was a larger than life personality and was not one to mince his words. Anyone watching Tony Silver and Henry Chalfont's documentary Style Wars one could not help but secretly admire his staunch, old school beliefs. With strong views on "an eye for an eye" discipline and his partiality towards the death penalty, Koch seemed - at least to someone living overseas - like someone not to be messed with.
But mess with him is exactly what some did, especially when his office introduced the Make Your Mark IN Society... campaign in the early 1980s.
This operation involved an array of celebrities of the day all encouraging the youth of the city to stop writing on trains and go home and do something less boring instead. Did it work? Time, as Koch boasted, would tell.
SPIN took to the trains to provide the Mayoral commitee a hard-hitting, artistic retaliation in a manner that Koch would understand and by doing so would make an enduring image in the process.

Once again, Style Warrior prove they are Britain's finest hip hop designers with their unique twist on a fiercely-guarded property within the culture's community and come up with another sureshot.

This tee is a pre-order product which means you either order it right now or miss out. You have until Sunday 19th April to get ordering.

To order yours go here: 

http://stylewarrior.bigcartel.com/product/dump-koch-t-shirt-pre-order

And don't forget if you haven't bought your copy of the latest Style Warrior 7", Manners by Tough Crowd then click here to purchase one now.


Further reading:

https://paintist.wordpress.com/2006/05/29/style-wars-the-calligraphy-of-graffiti/

http://www.nytimes.com/1982/04/30/nyregion/celebrities-join-mayor-in-new-battle-against-graffiti-writers.html

http://www.at149st.com/ - Online mecca of graffiti history


Also watch this space for a Style Wars feature coming soon on ABU.