The Voodoo Fest audience showed their spirit for the city, not just with their attendance and donations to the New Orleans Restoration Fund, but by wearing their pride in T-shirts with messages ranging from heartbreaking to ironic to just plain cool.
With a gun and a skull emblazoned with a fleur-de-lis and the words “Defend New Orleans,” designer Jac Curris, who has worked on Nicky Hilton’s Chick line, hoped to give New Orleans a shirt as unique as the city itself.
“It is as ubiquitous and cool as the ‘I heart New York’ shirts,” Curris said. “I wanted a good solid New Orleans shirt.”
Curris designed the shirt in 2003, but in the wake of the hurricane the shirt is much more than a fashion statement.
Now Curris said he is using the shirt’s revenue to give back to the city.
“100 percent of profits are going back to the community,” Curris said.
He said that all of the profits from Voodoo Fest will go to the NORF.
While Curris’s shirt was made before the hurricane, many shirts were made to help with relief.
Mary Moffet designed her “I looted New Orleans and all I got was this lousy T-shirt” to help raise money for her friends who had been robbed after the storm.
“We’re selling them anywhere all over, out of our cars, whenever I go to a bar I wear one,” Moffet said.
Jared Holden bought his “reNew Orleans” shirt on CafePress.com. Holden said he found out about New Orleans merchandise in his new home of Baton Rouge.
“I saw a bumper sticker on a jeep in Baton Rouge and I googled it,” Holden said.
While many showed their support on T-shirts, some took their love for their city a step further.
Jason Fraude got a tattoo of a red hurricane with a fleur-de-lis and “New Orleans” in the center in remembrance of the storm.
“I lived though it and saw everything,” Fraude said. “This is my home, these are my friends and family here.”
Contact Kim Moreau at [email protected]