003 - Another John F. Kennedy T-shirt

Some of the most formative years of my life were spent on the curbs of Ankara’s “John F. Kennedy Caddesi,” hanging out with friends, blasting punk and metal until our ears rang. I didn’t smoke, but my mates passed around Marlboros like religious artifacts while our eyes remained glue to skate and snowboard magazines (which were all imported and hard to find). We studied the ads, coveting gear we couldn’t possibly get our hands on. It was the early 2000s, and we were the bastard children of heavy metal and skate culture—dressed in torn denim, studded leather belts, and sweat-stained t-shirts full of holes.

I’m not the first to plaster JFK on a tee, and I certainly won’t be the last. The Misfits, naturally, had beaten everyone to the punch decades earlier with the Bullet EP merch. Supreme did it in 2008—and is now a coveted item traded on eBay by serious collectors and hypebeasts who missed the boat. Then Supreme and the Misfits collaborated in 2013 for a series of products. Surprisingly, I have never seen a Dead Kennedys t-shirt with a similar graphic, despite the name.

L-R: the Misfits (1998), Supreme (2008), Supreme x the Misfits (2013)

Looking back, the "Drop Top" graphic was inevitable. At the time, The Misfits were like a religion, any Supreme box logo item was the Holy Grail of my New Year’s wishlists, and tobacco companies still had slick, stylised ads. I wanted to blend that very American moment with the iconic branding that raised me.

If you aren't paying resale prices for the Supreme tee and want to get a little punk rock, then this is for you. A tribute to the icons, filtered through the memory of a teen on a curb in the early 2000.