It’s all about the shirt

One day, while I was clearing out my room in a warehouse in East London, I came across some old business shirts that my father had passed on to me. At the time I was thinking of new ways in which I could bring art out onto the streets and surprise people – art that got in the way of people’s gaze. It occurred to me, when I looked at my father’s shirts, that I was never going to use them unless I did something to them, something to make them mine. So I moved them from the wardrobe to the studio and began to paint on them. Soon I realised I’d found a way of making art and exhibiting it instantly. I needed nobody’s permission. From then on my art went where I went – to the corner shop, to parties, art events or political protests.
I discovered that I could use my freedom to dress how I liked in order to make ephemeral public interventions. I was not only interested in the images projected onto the garments, but in how they would affect both the wearer and the viewer. My interaction with the world changed according to the artwork I was wearing, and the artwork in turn affected the space that I was in. I’d buy a shirt or jacket, turn it into an artwork and then walk out and enjoy people’s reactions. It was an icebreaker, a provocation to engage. At certain events I would get a dozen
friends to arrive with me, all dressed up, forming a mobile exhibition.
At that time I made a signature label for the garments, which where all different brands. I’d keep the original label, and then add my own: Touched by Patricio Forrester.

In 2000, I was invited to be guest artist at London Fashion Week. I dressed some of my odd-looking friends, who stood around the queues and loitered at the trade fair.
Then Levi’s asked me to do an artwork on their jeans. It consisted of the word eventually written on the seat of the trousers. They produced four million magazine inserts, and the idea of writing on the bum became a fashion trend.
On a night out in Soho, London, while I was wearing one of my shirts, a charming woman asked me if she could take my picture. When I saw her photograph, I got suspicious of her framing tactic – she’d cropped my head off. She confessed to working for a large shirt company, who would soon copy the artwork. I called the company to protest.
About a year had passed when I showed the shirts to Gloria Vailati one of my oldest friends, then a businesswoman in corporate America. She too fell in love with them, and Touched by Patricio Forrester was born.
Here we present our collection – shirts that are fun, modern and witty. We are glad to be able to share the experience, and inspire the wearer to communicate who they are, how they feel or who they might want to become.
In short, we want to see people connect to their environment, whatever it may be – a business setting, a party, a train, a street – and experience it in a completely new way.