When shirts, T-shirts and sweaters decorated with Dan Perjovschi's designs appeared on the Comme des Garcons Shirt catwalk in Paris, many immediately understood that it was not just a visual experiment. Behind the simple, freehand words — Now, Hope, Love, Power — lies an entire philosophy that the Romanian artist has been cultivating for decades: art as a civic instrument, art as a space for social commentary and direct support for communities.
It all started with a message sent from Comme des Garcons headquarters in Tokyo: "They wrote to me that they have this project in which they collaborate with artists, that they have known what I do for years and are big fans. The people from the Tokyo headquarters wrote to me if I wanted to propose 5-10 designs for the spring collection that was launching in Paris," the artist confesses.
For Dan Perjovschi, accustomed to refusing collaborations with corporate brands, things were not so simple. For 25 years, his black-and-white drawing has appeared on bags, posters, T-shirts and badges only for social, cultural or charitable causes, always without personal profit. "I don't work with corporations and I don't care about fashion. I wear as comfortable and un-fancy as possible. All the objects I've made so far have been for non-profits," he explains.
