The Berkeley Beacon

Issue date: 11/18/04 Section: Lifestyle

Media Credit: Beacon photo/Ryan Weaver Jessica Frank, a sophomore marketing communications major, models an original design by local artist, Tammy Anderson. Her shirt cost $16. A baby-tee with the same print costs $19.

The term "fat kid" is not one usually associated with fashion. With the emergence of Fat Kid Clothing, third-year Northeastern University student Matt Shaw hopes to battle stereotypes in the fashion industry while providing alternative T-shirts that express unique images and art.

The name of Shaw's business, which was established this July, emphasizes the Northeastern student's ambition to "abolish all stereotypes in clothing."

"My brother is rather large...he's the original fat kid," Shaw explained. "Ever the creative one, he started wearing the bogus label [being called obsese]like a badge of honor, effectively countering the name's negative implications. It was inspiring to see a social norm be torn to pieces so effortlessly. The rest is history."

Shaw began Fat Kid Clothing as part of Northeastern's co-op program, which gives $5,000 grants to students seeking to gain experience in the working world by starting their own businesses. He had six months to make it happen but decided to look no further than his own neighborhood for inspiration. Shaw cites his address on Huntington Avenue (home of the Museum of Fine Arts and the Massachusetts Art Academy, among others), as a wellspring of creative expression.

"I saw a need that needed to be filled," he said. "I have noticed that it is fashion that is controlling people, not the other way around. Too long has the youth of the world been subject to brand names...as if by wearing the letters DKNY or FCUK, we are more complete."

Shaw believes that even "trend-busters" like the Garment District, are being labeled as fashionable, defeating the original purpose.

"Fat Kid Clothing is less about clothing than it is about art," Shaw said. "After all, anyone can run into a local clothing store and buy a T-shirt with a cool design on it. The clothes produced by Fat Kid Clothing are merely media by which artists can promote their art."

Artists have the option of putting personal information either on the clothing itself, or on the Web site, www.fatkidclothing.com free of charge. The artists are paid a small copyright fee for the use of their designs, and are paid a commission on the sales of all products bearing their designs.

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