Editor’s Note: Any conversation about Chicago’s creative scene has to include Joe Freshgoods. His store Fat Tiger Workshop and flagship brand Don’t Be Mad (formerly Dope Boy Magic) have been staples in the windy city for years, continually putting Chicago in the national spotlight — just check his collaborations with brands like McDonalds, Mastercard, and NikeLab, or his Thank U Obama line and Fuck Donald t-shirts for examples. But more specifically, Joe is a designer and entrepreneur that has continually evolved, consistently surprised, and always repping for his city. Not to mention the fact that he has consistently stayed ahead of everyone on trends (he’s been doing tie-dye hoodies and putting smiley faces on tees since 2012). The StockX team travelled to Fat Tiger in Chicago during his partner Rello’s art exhibit to talk about the origin story of the space, his creative process, and what’s next. (Note: This interview has been lightly edited for brevity and clarity)
JAMIE DELANEY, STOCKX: Thank you for taking the time to speak with us today. To get this started off, could you give us a quick introduction?
JOE FRESHGOODS: Yeah, I’m Joe Freshgoods. I run Fat Tiger Workshop with my partners. I’m also a designer, entrepreneur, visionary, anything but an influencer.
JAMIE: Not an influencer?
JOE: No, bigger than that.
JAMIE: And where is Fat Tiger located?
JOE: Fat Tiger’s located in Chicago, Illinois, 836 Milwaukee.
JAMIE: Fat Tiger has gone through a few iterations. I remember back when it was unofficially run out of the back of your spot in Pilsen when you were living with the photographer Trashhand. You guys did that first official store out in Logan Square and now you’re here, just outside of Wicker Park. How has the history of Fat Tiger influenced the space we’re in today?
JOE: Tiger has grown as we’ve grown as partners and friends. You bring up the spot I had in Pilsen, only a select few know about that. The place in Pilsen holds true to my heart because that was my first attempt opening up something that I didn’t know was going to work. I had no idea how sus it was having a storefront out front of my crib and putting up my address on my social media. I just didn’t. But regardless, I opened up on weekends and I’ll add I really only opened when I felt like it because it was like that type of vibe. I did good and a lot of the homies came by. That crib was the start of something. I didn’t know what at the time, but I knew we were creating some sort of energy in Chicago when we were using that space I had.
JAMIE: You’ve talked in previous interviews how iterations of Fat Tiger were very DIY. You’d go to Home Depot, grab some stuff and build a table and you said when you were building this space in particular that it was going to be very intentional and specifically show the brands growth and expansion. We were even talking before this interview and noticed how the details here are so purposeful. Can you explain why that is?
JOE: Yeah, the first store in Logan Square was just too small to have a workshop in it so we moved over to Grand and it was much bigger but whenever we wanted to do workshops we had to close down the store, bring in like 30 chairs and the store would just stop for workshops. About a year and a half later we outgrew that and wanted to have a concept space we could attribute to community development and have pop-up shops to create energy in the store without breaking the flow. I even added small details like having an area in the back of the store for the homies to just kick it. I think in the first store we were running 30 deep behind the register, and I just don’t think that was too appealing to customers. Now the way we are set up I can be in the store and people won’t even notice with all the space available in the back. But ultimately the detail can be attributed to our need for showing Chicago our growth.
JAMIE: So much of what you talk about is based around community, is that an intentional thing for you? I feel like in Streetwear everyone’s trying to be too cool with a standoffish vibe. is the fact that you focus on community something unique to Chicago’s scene?
JOE: For the most part when you’re dealing with streetwear stores it’s always people that think they’ve got to be rude, it’s like the more of an asshole you are, the more people gravitate to your store. But amongst all of that, streetwear at its roots started with community. Back in the day when a lot of us worked at Leaders, it was cool that we embraced community. Everyone that came into the shop between local rappers, painters, people with brands felt a sense of community. So at Fat Tiger we wanted to take that approach and make everyone feel like it was their store, making everyone hanging around the store feel like it’s a family reunion situation. Things just work out better because we embrace community.
JAMIE: Let’s jump into your creative process. When you’re doing workshops or when you’re working on a new piece or collaboration, how do you get started? What is the first thing you do when you sit down to work on something?
JOE: Nowadays, with me, the word “collab” is meaning less and less because it’s getting so diluted. With that said, first I assess if I want to do the project or not so I run through thoughts like “what does this mean to me?” and “how can I flip this story?” I think right now it’s all about having a good storyline and a good message, so before I say yes to the collaboration I also like to do my research about the company. In digging deeper I can see what the CEOs about, some history of the company, check out logos from back in the day, stuff like that. At the end of the day for my own designs and collabs I just like to build a story.
JAMIE: I was actually going to ask you about that. Collabs have been so watered down in streetwear, it used to not really be a big thing and now everyone’s doing them. What I noticed is that people tend to gravitate towards those stories you’re talking about; when you do a collab you have an authentic aesthetic and your voice really comes through. How do you maintain that?
JOE: Starting off you have to do as many jobs as you can to get your name out there but I think that was like 3 or 4 years ago for me. Once you have a resume you start to have some say in those rooms. Really though, coming up from where I’m from, you don’t turn down certain amounts of money you know what I’m sayin’? It’s just tough… I got a big family and a lot of friends but at the same time you want to make sure that you’re not tarnishing your brand and you are around for a long time. I feel like even consumers can feel when you just doing it for the check, so you have to make sure it’s authentic and be sure the collab aligns with your morals and your brand.
JAMIE: How do you know when a project is done? Do you agonize over iterations of it? Do you run it by the rest of the crew here at Fat Tiger? Or is it just like, “let’s get it out there!”?
JOE: You know, it’s tough. Being a creator, you might have five different versions of that one thing. Sometimes you have to just trust your heart and I know that sounds kind of corny but really sometimes you just gotta put it out there. It’s a double-edged sword asking too many people for input because it makes your head too clouded about what really matters to you. But yes we do have a team to evaluate the product but It’s on a case-by-case basis.
I usually just try to trust my vision and go with it. Sometimes it’s difficult working with certain brands and companies because you have to get certain things approved. That’s the part of the word collaborate I don’t like. I don’t like when someone’s like, “Yo Joe, I want to work with you,” but then they just tell me what to do. That’s not a collaboration, their just using my name for some sauce.
JAMIE: Are you ever surprised by the success of a piece? Going back to the Rihanna hat, tie dye hoodie, the Obama line and even the Loyola tees you made for March Madness, are you ever surprised by a piece?
JOE: I think I’m surprised by everything, I feel like a big part of the success I’m having is me not being cocky. As corny as this may sound, on the days I have big releases, I still wonder if people are going to buy my stuff. Nothing I’ve ever done had me thinking to myself “I know this is going to sell today.” I still take a humble approach to designing and how I communicate with my customers. It still feels weird to sell clothes for money, you know what I mean? You have to eat, you have to sleep… You have to do certain things in life to survive but people don’t have to shop with me, so I’m very humbled by the fact that people will spend their hard earned money on something I created.
The Rihanna hat for example, that was just a silly high thought I didn’t think it was going to go viral or anything. A lot of my ideas, like the Kanye idea, are just silly ideas I have with my friends that I turn into a quick product. But truthfully, I tend not to do quick products as much anymore because of this fast-fashion thing going on right now. I used to have this approach where I would come up with an idea on Monday, print it on Tuesday and have it in the stores on Wednesday. I scaled back from that approach because now everyone thinks they can do that. It has become super corny and although I don’t do that much anymore it was a big reason why I was successful earlier in my career.
JAMIE: You’re still making statements, I look back on your Agenda Fest setup and you were talking about wholesale.
JOE: I’m a little bit more personal with my work, I look at myself as a painter that goes through different stages in his life and you can see those different stages in my life through my art and clothes. Like after I had my daughter all my stuff got a little more positive and I don’t know if I was doing it on purpose, but like from calling a brand dope boy magic, to putting smiley faces on my clothing you do get to watch me grow as a man through my clothes. I’m not as silly as I was three years ago. Also, as a black man dealing with everything going on in the culture, I now know I have a little bit more responsibility not to put out bullshit. I still put out what I want to put out but at the same time, with something like the Obama collection, I knew that a company like Supreme wasn’t going to make clothes with Obama on it, so I took it upon myself as a black man from Chicago to drop a collection honoring his service.
JAMIE: Speaking of your daughter, how do you think having a kid changed your creative process?
JOE: You learn how to block off certain times, you know what I’m sayin’? Because you don’t want to be that creator that’s so focused on your work that you can’t spend time with your child. I think before I had a child I used to spend two days working on a project straight, but I can’t do that now. I try not to invest my time in my work so much where I look at my daughter at 14 and she hasn’t spent any good time with her dad so I’m very careful about not spending too much time in my work. There are times when I cut it off, there are certain times when I don’t respond to text or emails and I’m just in daddy mode.
JAMIE: Going back to that community in Chicago, what do you think the future of the streetwear scene here in Chicago is ?
JOE: Well I think Chicago is growing and glowing right now with us. Getting ComplexCon and All-Star weekend next year, I think the industry as a whole is starting to take notice of Chicago. A lot of creators and a lot of people in the music scene are starting to live here now. We’re killing that narrative that you have to move to New York or Los Angeles to make it and honestly in the Midwest in general we’re just poppin’ right now. It’s changing with more and more of the popping events coming here and a lot of the creator’s deciding to stay here.
JAMIE: Going back to Pilsen, if you could give a piece of advice to the Joe working at Fashion Geek or making NBA tees at Lane Tech, what would it be?
JOE: Advice I like to give everybody nowadays now that I’m getting a little bit older: It’s cool to put cool stuff on t-shirts and learn that part, but make sure your business is structured right. I’ve always felt like I was going to be doing this for a living but I didn’t know it was going to be like this. Our communities don’t teach you about stuff like credit and taxes, you know? Big boy stuff. One of my OG’s used to tell me that you don’t have a brand unless you paying taxes. I used to be like, “You hater, I do have a brand I’m selling tie-dye hoodies!” But now looking back on it no, if you’re not paying your taxes, you don’t run a business. But yeah, if I could go back and tell myself one thing I would tell myself to make sure you got copyrights, cross your T’s and dot your I’s, and make sure your business is structured right.
JAMIE: With streetwear and sneaker scene being so global and everyone wondering what’s going on in New York or what’s going on in LA or what’s going on in London… What would you say it means to you creating this sort of culture in Chicago?
JOE: You know sometimes when I’m traveling around the world people asking questions like, “Will I really get shot if I go there?” That kills me because NO you won’t. I think Chicago has such a bad rap as a city. I just think it’s so dope being one of the frontrunners helping young kids come up. Chicago watched me grow so I want more people to have the opportunity to grow in the way I did here. With stars like Chance [The Rapper] emerging from our city and holding it down, you start seeing a lot more people make it in their industries here and stay in Chicago.
JAMIE: What’s next for Fat Tiger?
JOE: With the store, we’re just growing because the times are growing and changing. Retail is constantly changing like every six months so it’s like we’re adapting with the times. We don’t pick up brands so we can be adaptive and nimble. The space can be whatever you want it to be, we are not slaves to certain concepts, Fat Tiger changes as we change. For me personally, I just want to grow my company to a point where I can employ more Chicagoans. I want to keep showing the industry that I can stay in Chicago and make it happen.
joefreshgoods.com| @JoeFreshgoods | fattigerworkshop.com
