Artist Statement
Growing up in Mississippi sometimes felt like living in an alien world. A lot of things that native Mississippians consider normal would be considered very foreign to outsiders. For example, there is a lot of generational wealth here with families that have been extremely well off for many decades, and they are often living side-by-side with the most extreme cases of poverty that you will see in the United States. You can drive out to the rural areas of North-East Mississippi and find these massive, beautiful antebellum homes that sit abandoned in ruin and decay, while people live in tin shacks just across the road. Before the flag design was up for debate, which is ongoing to this day, you could drive through Pearl and see Confederate Battle Flags swinging proudly in the wind, and then drive 10 minutes up the highway and find people in Jackson marching in opposition to that exact same confederate iconography. The division of culture and class is often hard to navigate and can leave Mississippians feeling torn between the state, the people we love and the often complicated past that we share.
Contemplating these paradoxes and oddities inherent in our state, I began to imagine what it would be like if an extraterrestrial crash-landed here on Earth and just so happened to end up in Mississippi. Would it seem odd to him for the same reasons? Would the inconsistencies stick out?
From this initial concept, I decided to expand it into a Mississippi inspired, alien themed apparel line, “Xenopparel.” The name is a combination of the prefix “xeno”, which means something foreign and is often related to extraterrestrials, and the suffix “apparel.” Our clothing line aims to take ownership of our otherworldly state and hopes to start a positive conversation between all inhabitants.
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The progenitor for this clothing line came from my final project in the highest level graphic design class that Ole Miss has to offer, Packaging Design. For one half of our final grade we were tasked with creating our own brand and creating two different products within that brand. We also had to come up with an interesting packaging solution for those products. Below are the two different shirts that I initially created for Xenopparel.
From these two initial designs, the entire Xenopparel brand was created. The final count on products ended up with eight different shirt designs, two different jogger designs, a hoodie and two different hat designs. All of these options come in various colors. The full lines can be viewed at xenopparel.com
Embroidered Logo T-Shirt (above)
Product Description: Looking for a comfortable, no nonsense shirt? Well look no further. Our embroidered logo T-shirt is extremely comfortable and allows you to still rep the merch without having a large, flashy design on the back.
Light Blue (back)
Black (back)
Lilac (back)
Navy (Back)
Asphalt (Front)
Unzip T-Shirt (above)
Product Description: Everyone needs to relax from time to time. That's what our Unzip design is all about! Just go ahead and take off that stuffy skin-suit, kick your feet up and unwind for a little while. Just don't forget to put it back on before you go out or you could be in for some trouble!
Asphalt (back)
Black (back)
Lilac (back)
Light Blue (back)
Ash (front)
Overlord Shirt Design (above)
Product Description: Do you ever wonder if aliens have already visited Earth? If they did maybe some of them stuck around. For all we know they could already be here and pulling the strings! That's what our Overlord shirt design is all about. Pick one up if you want to shine a light on those pesky Reptilians that are running the major world governments, from the shadows of course!
Asphalt (back)
Black (back)
Lilac (back)
Ash (back)
Light Blue (front)
Mask-hugger Shirt Design (above)
Product Description: Look we get it, everyone is sick of wearing masks. That being said, don't be a Karen and put your mask on before you go into a store.
If aliens had to wear masks what would they look like? Maybe they would be some sort of biological creature that filters the air for them. Our mask-hugger shirt explores this idea and reimagines face masks as a certain creature from a famous movie series.
Black (back)
Black (front)
Xeno-step Shirt Design (above)
Product Description: The design that started it all, the Xeno-step! The back design is a rave inspired step and repeat pattern, and the front logo is a unique green outline variation of the main logo. Cop one of these to wear to your next music festival or dance party!
~Please dance responsibly~
Dark Grey (back)
Dark Grey (front)
Jackson, MS Shirt Design (above)
Product Description: Part of our Mississippi shirt line, the Jackson shirt reimagines Jackson as its own planet. Featured in the skyline from left to right is: the Lamar Life building, the Standard Life Building, the state Capitol and the Hotel King Edwards. Pick one up to rep your city today!
Dark Grey (back)
Dark Grey (front)
Red (back)
Red (front)
Oxford, MS Shirt Design (above)
Product Description: Part of our Mississippi shirt line, the Oxford shirt reimagines Oxford as its own planet. Featured in the skyline from left to right is: Ventress Hall, the courthouse, the Oxford water-tower and Square Books. Pick one up to rep your city today!
Dark Grey (back)
Dark Grey (front)
Navy (back)
Navy (front)
Ocean Springs, MS Shirt Design (above)
Product Description: Part of our Mississippi shirt line, the Ocean Springs shirt reimagines Ocean Springs as its own planet. This shirt features one of the many piers that line the beautiful Ocean Springs beach, against the scenic backdrop that is the Gulf of Mexico. Its also got our favorite resident alien trying to find just the right spot to drop in a line. Pick one up to rep your city today!
Black
Dark Grey
Light Grey
Embroidered Hoodie (above)
Product Description: Who doesn't love a big warm hoodie? Our embroidered hoodie features a 3in embroidered patch of our logo on the front and no design on the back. Perfect for every occasion, be sure to cop one of these hoodies so that when the aliens invade they'll know that you're down with the cause!
Black
Grey
Navy
Embroidered Joggers (above)
Product Description: Fleece lined joggers with an elastic waistband, drawcord and embroidered logo on them. What's not to love? This is another great but subtle item to support us here at Xenopparel. Pick up a pair for a lazy day around the house or a chilly morning exercise!
Black
Grey
Navy
UFO Joggers (above)
Product Description: Better keep an eye on sky or you might end up getting abducted with these UFO joggers. Featuring a warm fleece lining with an elastic waistband, drawstring and design printed on the outside of the left leg, you really can't go wrong with snagging a pair of these. Whether it's for a lazy day around the house or a chilly morning exercise, pick up a pair today!
Black
Grey
White
Navy
Forest
Cuffed Beanie (above)
Product Description: Everyone needs a good beanie and with it getting colder every day, now is the perfect time to get a new one! Featuring our logo embroidered into the cuff and coming in five different colors, there will always be a perfect one to match your fit of the day.
Black
Grey
Khaki
Olive
Navy
Five Panel Hat (above)
Product Description: This stylish five panel hat features our logo embroidered on the front and comes in five colors so that you'll always have the perfect one for your fit of the day.
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Once I had created all of the designs for the products above, I then created a Big Cartel online store to sell these products and used Printful's integrated plugin to bring these products to life. I bought the domain name xenopparel.com and connected it to my Big Cartel store. These products are currently all available for purchase at xenopparel.com
Below are screenshots from my Big Cartel store:
Landing Page
Product Page
Product Page (zoomed out)
About Us Page
Individual Item Page
