Tired of the same old outrageously boring tee shirts breeding like rabbits in the city, in the summer of 2005 Patrick Brower and Blake Haney decided to be the change they wished to see in New Orleans. And then Katrina changed everything. What was at first just a few tee shirt designs that native New Orleanians could sport with pride and laughs became a symbol of New Orleans’ struggle to rebuild without losing our unique soul. Since Dirty Coast’s launch shortly after Katrina, the company has grown from selling their shirts in just a few local shops to operating their own retail website and bustling Magazine Street store, stocking upwards of 8,000 shirts in over forty-five designs, as well as stickers, posters, bags, undies and more. ANTIGRAVITY spoke with Haney and Brower about what it takes to make it as a new company, how to keep customers coming back and the importance of Acadiana Self Reliance.
ANTIGRAVITY: How did Dirty Coast get started?
Blake Haney: We were fans of various tee shirt companies, like Threadless and Defunker.com. We really liked what they were doing, and we had access to designers and illustrators as well as the ability to create an online store. The name “Dirty Coast” stems from a combination of east coast/west coast with the dirty south. We did a little work on ideas such as “Metairie. It’s Safe Here” and “New Orleans: So Far Behind, We’re Ahead,” but we hadn’t built the website yet—and then Katrina hit. We now had friends who were all over the country and one idea was “Be A New Orleanian. Wherever You Are.” About four weeks after Katrina, we ordered stickers and put them in all the open coffee shops. There was an immediate reaction to the stickers and we knew we needed to get the idea out. Katrina created a surge of interest in localism and local thought. Around that time I met Patrick; I showed him my idea, as I didn’t think I had enough time to start a company and launch it, but he happily shared my enthusiasm and jumped on board.
Patrick Brower: One of the first things we did was meet with our printer, La Chiva on Tchoupitoulas. We saw La Chiva’s sign, knocked on the door and told them what we wanted to do. La Chiva is now a vital part of our business. We originally had between ten and twelve designs. We started going to stores all over the city and got three or four to carry them wholesale. We did promos at Jazz Fest, and it snowballed from there.
BH: We launched the website sometime between French Quarter Fest and Jazz Fest in 2006 and pushed people to the site. Now we attempt to put out new concepts every month. We also have an annual fashion show. Our first show was at Republic and we had three hundred people attend. Our second was at Tipitina’s with four hundred and fifty people.

AG: What made you decide to get an actual store?
BH: We had a friend who was moving his office from Magazine St. The rent was affordable and the building was as nice as it could be, though it’s a small space. Neither of us had done real retail. It’s one thing to sell online, it’s a whole other deal to have your own retail space to plan and design inside. Our good friend Jeff Parker helped build all the shelves and we launched in mid-August. At first it was slow; only a few people sought us out.
PB: But the store’s been great. A website can only do so much. A lot of people walking by have never heard of us and a lot of people come from all over who know us.
BH: We tripled or quadrupled our sales for the year. We hope to continue growing with return customers this year. The message and vibe we get from the website and the store is extremely positive; people are really connecting. We come up with concepts for our designers to work with that will appeal to all types of people—soccer moms, kids, political shorts, cultural jesting. We try to have enough designs so that anyone who comes into the store can find something to connect with. Currently we have forty-five designs.
PB: People came in for Christmas with grocery lists and the response has been that everyone loved their gifts.
BH: It’s really nice to think that on Christmas day a few thousand people were all having a Dirty Coast moment.
PB: People also get the shirts as gifts for other people, but they then turn around and come to the store.
BH: We love that everyone who buys a Dirty Coast shirt becomes an evangelizer for the brand.

AG: What has been the most popular design?
BH: “Acadiana Self Reliance” is a pretty popular one. It was an idea we had that came from various elements. We showed our ideas with the symbols to one of our designers, Brad Jensen; he came back with the original design. He nailed it on the first go. He is one of our favorite designers to work with. “Acadiana Self Reliance” definitely needs explanation—it’s a conversation starter. It could be a message of states’ rights, local pride or a cool symbol. Anything you see, ten different people can have a different reaction to. One person can connect in one way, the next in another, and some may not at all, and that’s great, they will all go and explain it to their friends. We hired an illustrator to illustrate as literally as possible what “Making Groceries” is and he got it.
PB: True New Orleanians know “Making Groceries” and understand it. That goes for a lot of our designs. A lot of people say that is hilarious, a lot of tourists you have to explain it to, but most get it.

AG: What are your goals for this year?
PB: To try to expand our customer base. We would like to double the base that knows and loves us. Expand the store and continue to come out with really cool shirts people will like. We also will have our third annual fashion show this year, some time between French Quarter Fest and Jazz Fest. Not the most lofty of goals, but we take it day by day and try to stick to what we’re good at while infusing new product like posters and bags. We’re proud of the business—we’ve really become a part of New Orleans culture.

Interview by Sara Pic. Photo by Aubrey Edwards.

This interview first appeared in ANTIGRAVITY Vol.5 Issue 4 (February 2008).