IRAK
Abercrombie & Fitch, Ralph Lauren, J Crew, Banana Republic, etc. are selling a fabricated-fantasy lifestyle, but IRAK lives the life that they are selling. In 1997 Earsnot started IRAK, a tightly knit shoplifting graffiti crew with about 50 members. Today some of the members include many of downtown New York's art elite. Last December Earsnot launched a website where the crew, “expresses their 2 cents on current events†and sells products that they create expressly for the site. Presently, options include shirts and swewatshirts, that say "IRAK," "Shoplifting is Not a Crime" (picture right) and "derels" (short for derelict, everyone is a derel). The blog is funny, a bit offensive, but, refreshingly, really to the point.
