Barking Irons - The Brand with the Pistols

The Exclusive Line is here and we kick off our series here in the Blog with Barking Irons from New York. Founded by Daniel and Michael Casarella in 2003, the brand with the pistols (barking irons is an old fashioned term for pistol) is all about bringing a touch of american mythology to fashion. They say, each of their items is based on a character or a story, most probably from the 18th or 19th century.
In our Exclusive Line you’ll find 4 products (two shirts, one hoodie and one zipper), and we also have some more background information about the Barking Irons: Check out their blog, the New York Times article on “Brand Underground”, or the video featuring the Casarella brothers. We also did a short interview and asked Michael Casarella a few questions.

What is the barking irons brand about (one sentence)?

Michael Casarella: Our brand is about remaking history into a modern image. It is a potent mixture of raw intellect and sharp attitude.

Which person (famous or not) wearing one of your products have you been the happiest about?

The rock band, Kings of Leon, has embraced our line. We would listen to their first album when we were hand-printing shirts in a dark basement in New York, and today we are huge fans.
Bruce Willis is pretty cool too.

Where do you find your inspiration, where do the cuts and ideas for a collection come from?

Most of our inspiration comes from folklore; history is very malleable as we all know and so it is fascinating to learn how different people have retold its stories throughout time. Some are wildly fictionalized but they retain a feeling. We gather inspiration from books, films, music, and handed-down stories and myths. We love the idea of American mythology. The tradition of blues music is rooted in this very thing.

How much was barking irons inspired from from movies like gangs of new york and music like the anti/folk trend?

A movie like “Gangs of New York” is a good example of someone retelling history in their own way, in an original image. It is not the root of our inspiration but it embodies it to some degree. My brother and I actually started Barking Irons before the movie was released, but in some ways it crystallized what we were doing and it made the aesthetic available to many people that did not immediately understand us. The practice of taking something “established” and reworking or subverting is perhaps as old as mankind. Anti-folk is exactly that in music; Barking Irons uses fashion as its canvas.

Fashion is not traditionally meant for customization - what do you think about this, do you see it as an „upgrade“, an improvement or rather a „matter of modern times“?

We do not see it as an upgrade or a product of the times. It is a freedom that is available to creative people. In the 1980’s, rappers used to customize their clothing with high-fashion logos, it was meant as a statement that subverted the meaning of luxury status symbol. To the luxury brands it was seen as counterfeiting, but to the rappers it was seen as empowering. Customizers can either degrade or elevate the meanings of fashion depending on how you look at it.

what kind of custom designs would you like to see on your shirts, which ones would make you cry?
*Skip*

What was your biggest success so far (personally or with barking irons)?

I am most happy when people recognize us as an authentically-inspired, grass roots brand. We are not a huge commercial brand so what we do has more of an intimate attachment to the customer. When I hear people talk about us that way or communicate that to us, it validates all the trials we have been through as an independent brand.

If you had to wear one piece of your current wardrobe for your lifetime - what would it be?
T-shirt without a doubt.

If you were a t-shirt … what would you look like?
I would be one of those t-shirts that changes color in different lighting.