The Story Behind Our Art: Building the Mongrel Logic™ Universe
Some of the artwork in our Core range was first drawn in the 90s. This is how old sketches evolve into sustainable streetwear and how the Mongrel Logic™ universe builds from the archive outward.
Original lines, translated into thread. The archive, made tangible.
Mongrel Logic didn’t begin as a product line. It began with drawings.
Some of the artwork in our Core range was drawn in the 90’s and early 2000s. Long before hoodies and brands. In fact, what kicked this all off was drawing the embroidery for our Signature cap, more on that another day.
Flaws are as important as perfection.
Keeping the art close to its original form matters, not polishing away the awkwardness, not correcting every detail. Letting the lines stay human. Time will tell if the idea is sound or not. Re-working drawings without erasing where they came from, and building them a future, has been one of the most satisfying parts of all of this.
We are ‘the’ weirdos, mister.
I’m not apologising for it. Art has informed everything from the design of the first cap to the current development of the designer range. Testing art on textiles is the most fun I’ve had in years. Watching something once trapped in a notebook move into fabric feels like unlocking a small universe.
Art is the foundation. Form is the future.
Using my antique, vintage, almost cave-era drawings gives us a clear starting point. Not everyone understands the purple weird monster immediately, that’s fine. It’s supposed to be fun. It’s supposed to feel slightly unfamiliar. It isn’t made for everyone.
Serious comes next.
Right now, it lives simply. A sweater. A graphic. A familiar softness. I put on my own Logic Descends sweatshirt and feel the soft fabric settle. The drawing sits there quietly, carrying two decades of history with it.
This is how the universe builds.
From the archive outward. From the monsters under my bed, to the fabric you can’t say no to.
Why we’re building the engine before the designer range.
Why Mongrel Logic is building the engine before the designer range, proof before expression, growth without debt, and time as part of the design.
Abstract hand-drawn black hole sketch representing time, gravity, and systems pulling inward, an early visual study tied to the foundations of Mongrel Logic.
Every brand would love to start with the hero product, the piece that looks like the brand. We do too, but for us that’s the destination, not the starting point.
This isn’t just about organic cotton.
It’s about organic growth. Everything you see here has been built without investors, without paid promotion and without shortcuts. Not because those things are inherently wrong, but because designing out waste is the backbone of how this business works. Including financial waste.
Proof of concept before expression.
Building the engine first has allowed us to test out the logic of the system early. Not just sustainability, but design language, production decisions and how the work is received. It’s also how early signals are built.
It’s a way to learn without burning capital, and to refine without panic. This is how the Designer range gets funded without debt, without rushed decisions, and without compromising the thing its meant to be.
Starting at the “wrong” end.
Most brands build authorship and architecture after they launch, often because the first product has been funded. As it stands today, this little business has no debt, and that’s an intentional constraint. It means doing things in a different order. At times the harder order.
Mongrel Logic.
There’s a reason this business is called Mongrel Logic. I am Mongrel Logic.
It’s frustrating to work with systems that reward speed over thought. But it’s also incredibly effective at testing whether something can hold its shape.
Time is part of the design.
Time.
And we’re right back to the first blog and where this all started. Time to build the engine. Time to see what holds. Time.
The designer range is coming. Not as a gamble, but the next logical phase.
On a personal note. I’m not good at time. I’d rather walk than wait to catch the bus. I’ll get there faster.
A Christmas Of Refinement.
I now find myself waking in the night with tension from holding down Ctrl +C and not pasting it, because technically, I’m asleep.
Lilith’s Corsage in progress
Much to the annoyance of everyone around me, the amount of work I have been doing to build this little engine that could, has kept me up so late that I almost saw Santa.
Have you ever dreamed in ctrl c, ctrl v?
Neither had I, until I started building the shop. I now find myself waking in the night with tension from holding down Ctrl +C and not pasting it, because technically, I’m asleep. This should give you some indication of how many alt texts, descriptions, documents, versions, oh my!
The little engine that could.
Four days of drawing later, our latest design, Lilith’s Corsage, is now on the website. I wanted to do a lily, but not floral in the traditional sense. I pulled elements from older drawings and folded them into the piece; that’s where the checkerboard petals come from, for example.
I guess now the test of the dream begins.
Not the ctrl copy and paste dream. The whole thing. I’ve tried breaking it, and it stands. And now I’m about to roll the proverbial boulder down the hill.
Too many metaphors?
This is the first chance I’ve had to flex in two weeks of product design, store development, and endless strategy work. So yes, too many metaphors. My brain is trying to wake up after long hours of repetitive tasks. It’s not quite there yet.
A refined store front and some new pyjamas.
That’s really…a wonderful thing.
Building the best cap in the world.
“Beyond all the big-world chaos, this started from something simple: I had nothing to wear.
I don’t wear make-up daily. I walk dogs. I get covered in mud. I live in trackies, hoodies, and caps; but that doesn’t mean I want to look like I’ve raided a jumble sale. They just don’t make what I need or want. So, I’m making it.”
Designer drawing embroidery artwork for the Mongrel Logic™ Signature Cap.”
I know; that’s a bold claim; any day now I half-expect Elf to burst through the door and congratulate me. Just kidding. Mostly.
Still, it hasn’t deterred me from trying. Defining it. Creating it. Drawing the embroidery. Designing the fabric. Agonising over the tiniest details for days on end; a seam, for instance, or the jacquard I keep changing my mind about, or a two-day internal debate about GSM.
When an idea becomes a movement.
Turns out I’m full of bold claims. But this isn’t just about making a cap that lasts a lifetime; it’s about building a movement.
A business that’s profitable, scalable, and creates space for other talent to shine too.
I’ve spent months developing a product designed to outlast trend cycles; something that’s wearable art, not fast fashion.
If you like the idea of clothing that can be passed down, if you love luxury but walk dogs too much to Dolce that shit, and if streetwear lives in your bones, stick around.
The cap that changed everything.
I never imagined I’d end up here. The last time I tried to kick this off, the pandemic happened. Somewhere between exhaustion and obsession, this project became the thing that kept me going.
Beyond all the big-world chaos, this started from something simple: I had nothing to wear.
I don’t wear make-up daily. I walk dogs. I get covered in mud. I live in trackies, hoodies, and caps; but that doesn’t mean I want to look like I’ve raided a jumble sale. They just don’t make what I need or want. So, I’m making it.
So when it the bloody cap getting here?
Soon. I can’t say much yet, things are still moving, but if all goes to plan, before the year’s out.
It’s a luxury cap built to last a lifetime. The embroidery artwork alone took over 35 hours, the fabric design even longer. Every detail has been considered to make it look and feel like the best cap in the world; durable, timeless, and eco-friendly.
More updates are coming
One thing on my never-ending to-do list: a newsletter. I’ll have it live in the next week or so.
If this sounds like your thing, stick around. When you see the cap, you’ll want to be in the loop for future drops; because this is just the beginning.
If you want to be one of the first to own the first-ever Mongrel Logic™ cap, sign up when the newsletter lands and follow along on socials.