Project 1 - Mickey Ellis - Who's Responsible?
Mickey Ellis works as a clothing designer, creative director and is the founder of HIT and RUN.
What is HIT and RUN?
I started my first clothing brand Raw Power in 2002. I met Frank Leder when interviewing him for Sleaze Nation magazine and we instantly hit it off creatively and started the brand as an artistic statement against what we saw as the dominance of cynical big money fashion labels at the time. Our design ethos was simple - design the whole collection in a single day and night - get drunk, scribble and collage on big bits of paper, wake up hungover and screen print the results on T-shirts. Job done. At that time the artistry and the sentiment was the dominant message. The clothing was the platform for the art. Fast forward to today and fast-fashion and high-street has removed a great deal of the artistry and purity from the T-shirt fashion market. Graphics are churned out based on a bland trend led aesthetic and with a few notable exceptions it is rare to see this pure creative sentiment in clothing. I want Hit and Run to be a platform for those creatives who have strong ideologies to communicate their ideas and passions through graphic T's.
How do we sustain?
Sustainability is not sustainable if it is about fads or fashion. Grandiose idealistic goals may have the good intentions at their heart but like all fads without realistic targets they are doomed to fail. A wave of disillusion swept through the creative community following the result of the UK election. After a campaign that saw the public more politically engaged than they had been for decades, the re-election of a Tory government saw the people who had voted for change, openly decree that they were turning their backs on those that had been perceived to have voted to maintain their own suffering. With social media we are all susceptible to confirmation bias as we exist within an echo chamber of our own beliefs. This relates equally to those who glibly criticise the 'stupid', to those perceived to make choices based on hate and small mindedness. To produce a sustainable alteration in path to what can easily be perceived as a lurch towards environmental catastrophe and all-out global war we must take responsibility not for the planet, not even for our community but for the people we can have direct influence on. If everyone is able to exert a positive effect on those closest to them, then this sustainable positive action will surely ripple into a sustainable better future.
Who's Responsible?
People don't like to be preached at and especially be told that what they are doing is wrong. It's great and imperative that we're living in a time where people are so engaged with politics and environmental concerns. It can feel overwhelming and also a little futile at times though. That's why I believe that the most positive steps can be done by the people at the grass roots. Those that take for a given those things that NEED to be done - don't buy fast fashion, minimise the use of disposable plastics, don't be lazy, don't be selfish. If it is in your power you are responsible to do your utmost to inspire others - whether it be through art, music, food, or anything creative. Live with integrity and honesty and your voice and actions will hopefully inspire others to live better. Who's Responsible? In the word's of Manic Street Preachers - You (fucking) Are.