Diary of a Bootlegger is a work of digital cut-outs. The emails, tweets, and text messages here replace the pre-Internet paper scrapbooks of clippings, thoughts, exchanges, in-jokes, and appropriations. The form is suggestive of the Sports Banger aesthetic, a clued-in hybrid of political commentary, sportswear chic, and proud class consciousness. Through this curated sequence of customer service emails, twitter “content”, family chats, and warehouse humour, the story of Jonny Banger’s seemingly improbable rise is told, from a DIY outfit bootlegging well-known sports brands to becoming one of the most talked about fashion phenomenons of the last decade.
34 pages, 15 x 21 cm, paperback, Rough Trade Books (London).