The t-shirt take on Iowa politics
A few weeks ago a single small black-and-white photo of Bernie Sanders' smiling face was scotch-taped to one of the designer's desktop computers at RAYGUN, an avant-garde clothing shop in Des Moines. The little picture was intended to inspire.
Apparently, if one Sanders was inspiring, several are sublime. The result is Sanders' many faces (not just smiling Sanders) multiplied across RAYGUN's "Bernie Sanders Sublimation Shirt."
RAYGUN, nestled in the heart of the East Village in Des Moines, is a favorite stop for out-of-town reporters and campaign staffers. Its many-windowed store (slogan: "The Greatest Store in the Universe") will likely be high on the must-see list of the scores of political types descending on Des Moines this weekend for the CBS News Democratic debate.
RAYGUN is ready -- its wry "SHIRTS FOR OUT OF TOWN MEDIA" sign is on display, along with some very clever merchandise. One shirt reads "Iowa, wave the next time you fly over."
Mike Draper, RAYGUN founder deadpans, "Well, there are people who do live here."
Political pins read, "TRUMP BEGS FOR OUR CAUCUS," and "BENGHAZI! BENGHAZI! BENGHAZI!"
"There is no sacred cow," says Draper, an Iowan native and self-proscribed "socially liberal dude."
Draper talked about the concept behind the Sanders Sublimation tee. "It is funny to have an old Vermont socialist all over a shirt," Draper explained. "We just wanted Bernie being Bernie all over your torso." Draper added that the RAYGUN design team got the idea when they realized that Bernie has "absolutely no political sex appeal."
The faces of Bernie run the gamut. Draper describes them as "the smiley anything-is-possible, Scandinavian-style government Bernie, then the kind of getting-angrier-I'm-not-sure-if-the-SEC-is-regulating-the-financial-industry-properly Bernie. And then [there's] the really angry taking-it-up-to-a-10, as Larry Sanders would say," Draper said. The Bernie shirt is the only RAYGUN clothing with a candidate's face,
The store has long had fun playing with the idea of Iowa's place in the political world. In its opening week in 2006, RAYGUN sold about 50 shirts, which start at around $21 (the Sanders shirt retails for $39). For some, the humor is a bit much. An elderly woman pronounced the Bernie shirt is funny, but not for her. Then, picking up a pin that reads "Iowa! Small Town Charm, Big Time Caucus." she giggled.
Draper says he is "living his hobby." He got involved in graphic design when he was a senior at the University of Pennsylvania. He majored in history, but found that what he really enjoyed was designing shirts in his college dorm room. Playing off of the confusion between Ivy League University of Pennsylvania and Penn State, his first shirts read "It's Not Penn State." They sold like candy.
So, after college, Draper moved back to Des Moines and started RAYGUN 2006 -- he's also expanded into Iowa City and Kansas City. Draper views his company's work as taking overexposed subjects and creating "art through direct message or art through metaphor."
He's quick to point out that the jokes aren't meant to make fun of Iowa -- they're aimed at the people who believe that all anyone would ever do is fly over Iowa without thinking about all that goes on there, Draper said. One thing is certain -- in an election year, the candidates are doing more than just flying over Iowa's cornfields. (Just kidding. There's more to Iowa than cornfields. (There are an awful lot of cornfields, though.))