Mission

I built this because I couldn't find it.

The Higher Ark comes out of the things I've spent most of my life around—music, skateboarding, clubs, art, clothes, and the people who made those worlds interesting.

I grew up before all of it was available at once. You found things through friends, record stores, shows, magazines, skate shops, flyers, and people who knew something you didn't. Sometimes it meant driving somewhere. Sometimes it meant ending up in a warehouse at two in the morning. A lot of it wasn't documented particularly well, and nobody was thinking about whether it would eventually become content.

Those experiences still affect what I like and what I make.

The clothing part started for a much simpler reason. I wanted shirts that worked with some of my favorite sneakers. I looked online and kept finding the same kinds of graphics—hustle slogans, money-over-everything statements, and designs that just didn't have anything to do with me. I wouldn't wear them.

So I started making my own.

Clothing has always meant more to me than just matching an outfit. When I was younger, what someone wore told you something about them before you ever talked to them.

At a rave, you could usually tell who had been around for years, who belonged to a particular part of the scene, and who was walking into one for the first time. School was the same way. Someone wearing a Nirvana, R.E.M., or Skinny Puppy shirt had already given you a little piece of information about themselves. Sometimes that was enough to start a conversation.

I still think style can do that.

I also wanted to make the clothes differently. I didn't want the cheapest blank I could print on, but I didn't want a T-shirt to cost $150 either. I wanted good fabric, solid stitching, necklines that hold their shape, and clothes that still feel right after being washed and worn.

And I don't like artificial scarcity. If something is popular, I'd rather make more of it than make it intentionally difficult to get. There may be practical limits to what I can produce, but scarcity isn't the product.

The Higher Ark has grown beyond trying to make a shirt that matches a pair of shoes. The ideas can come from music, art, skateboarding, club culture, old technology, history, religion, a photograph, a record, or something I haven't thought about in twenty years.

I want the business to make money. It has to cover the work, the materials, and the time that goes into it. But I don't want maximizing the price to become the reason for making something.

I want to make clothing I would actually wear, make it well, keep it within reach when I can, and give other people something they can put on and feel like themselves in without trying too hard.