ES 22 Design

“Pockets = Freedom,” proclaims SCOTTeVEST. This is a company of devout pocket evangelists. While hoodies are often preferred for travel because of their comfort, roomy front pockets, and the hood’s use as a sleeping aid, the Knowmatic hoodie is designed explicitly with grueling economy class travel in mind. It combines the tecchie’s need for device integration with the frequent air traveler’s need to be able to carry a backpack’s worth of things through pockets alone, all layered underneath the hoodie’s nod toward rebellion and disruption so dear to young tech culture. [1]

SCOTTeVEST is quite transparent about the how’s and why’s, and presents its clothing with no mystery - it’s just like the latest tech gadget, with x-ray photos and patented design features highlighted. Each pocket is catered to a specific kind of device, and is made such that headphones / cords can be threaded through pockets and loops to turn the garment into a piece of technology itself. This is ultimately the product of the DIY hacker’s dream of tech integration - for now we all have it in our pockets, but tomorrow it’ll be in our clothes, and someday it’ll be directly in our bodies. The Knowmatic is an intermediate step in the post-human futurist’s quest for electronic integration by combining the hoodie with the computer, rather than simply containing it.

The hoodie’s longstanding association with outcasts and renegades also appeals to the the tecchie’s sense of rebelliousness. Although its roots span back to the cowls of hooded Medieval monks, the hoodie as we’d recognize it today rose in popularity as a garment worn by workers in frigid 1930s NY warehouses, and gradually came to represent a sort of working class, me-vs-society mentality. Rocky’s grey training hoodie has almost become a trope in the underdog athlete movie, always donned during those brutal workout shots. Zuckerberg’s hoodie has become the iconic garment for 20-something startup kids gleefully watchingThe Social Network and idolizing the next “disruptive” Silicon Valley startup. Hip hop has also donned the hoodie, capitalizing on its humble beginnings and edgy vibe to stick it to The Man. [2] [3]

The Knowmatic nods to these influences through clean, clashing, asymmetric lines, reminiscent of street art designs yet clean-cut enough to pass as an abstract corporate pattern, perfectly capturing the superstar startup founder’s canonical transition from caffeinated, hard-working underdog beginnings to a leader in technology and business. [4]

 [1] http://www.scottevest.com/company/about_sev_new.shtml

[2] http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/23/opinion/23wilson.html

[3] https://www.rushordertees.com/blog/hoodies-from-history-and-pop-culture/