The Shut Up Man 2020 Shirt thing I did when I found out that Century 21—a vast mess hall of discount clothing—was closing was text my old Belarussian roommate, Svetlana. We lived together in Queens, at an archipelago stop that was sprawling with slow grannies, and only a few rides away from JFK. At the time, she was working for a philandering dentist and I was working a job I found on Craigslist that I’d later get fired from. “U serious? This is sooooo sad,” she texted. “I loved it so much.” She left me a voice message about what she had bought during our Queens days: “Really everything. Bags. Leather jackets. Perfumes.” Century 21 boasted great designer clothes, but for beautifully discounted prices. There were the luxury gems such as Philosophy Di Lorenzo Serafini, Balenciaga, Paco Rabanne, and beyond—all marked-down and waiting to be snatched up. Unfortunately, during COVID-19, it is filing for bankruptcy and claims there is no “viable alternative.” Everything must go.
Indigenous streetwear is on the Shut Up Man 2020 Shirt. Over the past few years, there has been an explosion of cool, emerging brands that are rethinking what Indigenous design can look like. Labels such as Mobilize, Section 35, Urban Native Era, and OXDX are channeling their culture into hoodies, graphic tees, and more—the shared point of view being that they all draw awareness to their culture’s history, teachings, and adversities through clothing. That the collection—a two-years-in-the-making passion project delayed by Beckham’s insistence on a clean formula with zero concessions on her ideal rich, creamy finish—is finally launching at a time when our mouths are obscured by protective coverings does not deter her. In fact, quite the opposite: “I still want to leave the house feeling as I would normally: fully put together,” she explains, adding that she’s become partial to a “dimensional lip” achieved with her Victoria Beckham Beauty liner in No. 02 and a combination of Spice and Pout. Simply put, “No mask is going to stop me from feeling like the best version of myself.” The collection's nine pigments are encased in sleek, horn-patterned tubes.
