Turning garments into an ARG
A behind-the-build note on how a question about making streetwear “entertaining” led to The Canis'; an ARG built from characters, factions, artifacts and resistance.
There is something about organic business growth that forces you to think.
I have started this from my own pocket, my own blood, sweat and brain cells.
Recently, I asked the question, how do I make garments entertaining?
A photo of my notes in progress on building an ARG from our range
The question led somewhere stranger
I started by looking at my characters. Things I drew when I was 14, 17.
What I was thinking about hasn’t really changed. It’s evolved. I started mapping alignments.
Characters became artefacts.
Artefacts became factions.
This is also where I decided Artifacts was cooler than Artefacts, sorry England.
Story had already been forming around them; each garment had its own ‘for who’ declaration based on the art.
What if you could “battle” or align in the street? Choose your faction.
Can garments carry allegiance, story and resistance?
Ancient pressures.
Ways of holding your ground.
The Canis emerged.
Recognise The Canis
Two weeks of game mapping, architecture and linguistic gymnastics led to The Canis.
Suddenly, it was alive.
Not just another shop, a small theatre of resistance. Rebellion.
Defiance.
The garments became artefacts in a wider struggle because, in ways both obvious and hidden, this is a battle for our lives.
Has it changed my social media habits?
No. 😆
It’s an exercise I’d recommend to any founder
Not because it will solve your distribution problem. It may solve nothing.
But asking the question led me to unearth the world that has been hiding in plain sight for over 20 years.
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.
Testing organic growth, not just organic cotton.
What does it mean to test organic growth properly? No shortcuts. No boosts. Starting from zero and building a sustainable streetwear system deliberately.
Close-up photograph of my dirt-covered hand placing small marbles on asphalt, symbolising starting from zero and organic growth.
Part of my early strategy is to test organic growth. Our small social accounts have only just found their full vocabulary, and testing has started.
Instagram stats are not a healthy place to live in.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s fun. I’m up for the challenge. But, playing a medium-to-long-term game while looking at daily stats is a bit like watching an hourglass fill, one grain of sand at a time. That part is dull as anything. Luckily, not tied to my personal sense of power or validation, but absolutely tied to planning and upcoming projects.
A Game of Follows.
Sorry…couldn’t help myself. Why am I being such a dick about doing it the hard way? Well, I can’t fully test the financial sustainability of the system without starting with zero. It’s a lot to explain in a short blog, but part of what I am testing is the zero-start-up (or near zero, let’s face it) cost philosophy as well. But I did start the blog, before all of this was born, with nothing. Free documents, free versions, free everything.
How am I avoiding burnout?
I’ve planned. Most of the end of 2025 was spent documenting, taking pictures of our prints and garments in real life. I have endless content to use; the hard part is putting it together in a way that is legible.
I’m not so good with patience.
I wish there were another two of me. But we’d need to be able to tell each other apart so one of them is a cyclops and the other has snakes for hair. Read into that, what you will. I just mean sheer workload and ability to make time to be able to separate myself from it for long enough to have a good idea. That’s tough.
Speaking of good ideas.
I’m currently working on the latest design. I’ve been recording some of the process, not sure what I’ll share yet, but, fuck ja, if organic growth and slogging sounds familiar to you then join me why don’t you?