Barking Irons
Encyclopedia
Barking Irons is a design company based on the Bowery
in New York City, specializing in casual-contemporary apparel inspired by American folklore and storytelling. The clothing line has been noted for blending elements of 19th century formality with contemporary denim & rock and roll culture as well as its commitment to utilizing fashion as a modern means for storytelling in the folk tradition. The company was started in mid-2003 by brothers Daniel and Michael Casarella and has won several awards including 2006 Sportswear International Fashion Award, and was featured in New York Times Magazine article, "The Brand Underground."
. The Bowery, a theatre district for much of the century, was a critical proving ground for indigenous American culture in the 19th century. Uniquely American art forms such as tap-dancing, minstrel shows, concert saloons, freak shows and vaudeville
all gained popularity in the Bowery theatres of the time.
The cultural well-spring of New York's Bowery also helped to usher in a sexual revolution in the latter part of the 19th century. The Bowery continues to be a source of urban folklore and mythology.
Past Barking Irons collections have drawn inspiration from characters such as P.T. Barnum and his fire-tormented American Museum
, as well as the notorious reign of Boss Tweed
and his Tammany Hall
, New York's brawling fire companies, the devilish dens of the Bowery
, such as Blind Tiger and Satan's Circus
.
Other collections have focused on the literary sons of early New York and America such as the poet Walt Whitman
and writers like, Herman Melville
, Stephen Crane
, and musicians such as, Leadbelly
, Woody Guthrie
, and Stephen Foster
.
The history in Barking Irons essentially utilizes the strange mystique, stories, and legends of the Bowery as a critical stage for the telling of American folklore through a modern lens.
Bowery
Bowery may refer to:Streets:* The Bowery, a thoroughfare in Manhattan, New York City* Bowery Street is a street on Coney Island in Brooklyn, N.Y.In popular culture:* Bowery Amphitheatre, a building on the Bowery in New York City...
in New York City, specializing in casual-contemporary apparel inspired by American folklore and storytelling. The clothing line has been noted for blending elements of 19th century formality with contemporary denim & rock and roll culture as well as its commitment to utilizing fashion as a modern means for storytelling in the folk tradition. The company was started in mid-2003 by brothers Daniel and Michael Casarella and has won several awards including 2006 Sportswear International Fashion Award, and was featured in New York Times Magazine article, "The Brand Underground."
History and Meaning
The name "Barking Irons" comes from a 19th century slang term for pistols. The term was created by gangs of youths that haunted New York's infamous BoweryBowery
Bowery may refer to:Streets:* The Bowery, a thoroughfare in Manhattan, New York City* Bowery Street is a street on Coney Island in Brooklyn, N.Y.In popular culture:* Bowery Amphitheatre, a building on the Bowery in New York City...
. The Bowery, a theatre district for much of the century, was a critical proving ground for indigenous American culture in the 19th century. Uniquely American art forms such as tap-dancing, minstrel shows, concert saloons, freak shows and vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
all gained popularity in the Bowery theatres of the time.
The cultural well-spring of New York's Bowery also helped to usher in a sexual revolution in the latter part of the 19th century. The Bowery continues to be a source of urban folklore and mythology.
Historically Themed Collections
Barking Irons has been noted for the extensive historical research and chronicling that is weaved into its products. Storylines have been a driving inspiration for seasonal collections as well as individual designs.Past Barking Irons collections have drawn inspiration from characters such as P.T. Barnum and his fire-tormented American Museum
American Museum
The American Museum in Britain is based at Claverton Manor, near Bath, England, in a house, designed by Jeffry Wyatville and built in the 1820s on the site of a manor bought by Ralph Allen in 1758...
, as well as the notorious reign of Boss Tweed
Boss Tweed
William Magear Tweed – often erroneously referred to as William Marcy Tweed , and widely known as "Boss" Tweed – was an American politician most notable for being the "boss" of Tammany Hall, the Democratic Party political machine that played a major role in the politics of 19th century...
and his Tammany Hall
Tammany Hall
Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was a New York political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789 as the Tammany Society...
, New York's brawling fire companies, the devilish dens of the Bowery
Bowery
Bowery may refer to:Streets:* The Bowery, a thoroughfare in Manhattan, New York City* Bowery Street is a street on Coney Island in Brooklyn, N.Y.In popular culture:* Bowery Amphitheatre, a building on the Bowery in New York City...
, such as Blind Tiger and Satan's Circus
Satan's Circus
Satan's Circus is the fourth studio album by Death in Vegas, released on October 11, 2004 on Drone Records in the United Kingdom and on May 24, 2005 on Sanctuary Records in the United States. Contrary to previous releases, this album features no guest vocalists. This album is the first release...
.
Other collections have focused on the literary sons of early New York and America such as the poet Walt Whitman
Walt Whitman
Walter "Walt" Whitman was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of free verse...
and writers like, Herman Melville
Herman Melville
Herman Melville was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet. He is best known for his novel Moby-Dick and the posthumous novella Billy Budd....
, Stephen Crane
Stephen Crane
Stephen Crane was an American novelist, short story writer, poet and journalist. Prolific throughout his short life, he wrote notable works in the Realist tradition as well as early examples of American Naturalism and Impressionism...
, and musicians such as, Leadbelly
Leadbelly
Huddie William Ledbetter was an iconic American folk and blues musician, notable for his strong vocals, his virtuosity on the twelve-string guitar, and the songbook of folk standards he introduced....
, Woody Guthrie
Woody Guthrie
Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie is best known as an American singer-songwriter and folk musician, whose musical legacy includes hundreds of political, traditional and children's songs, ballads and improvised works. He frequently performed with the slogan This Machine Kills Fascists displayed on his...
, and Stephen Foster
Stephen Foster
Stephen Collins Foster , known as the "father of American music", was the pre-eminent songwriter in the United States of the 19th century...
.
The history in Barking Irons essentially utilizes the strange mystique, stories, and legends of the Bowery as a critical stage for the telling of American folklore through a modern lens.
See also
- Bowery (Manhattan)
- P.T. Barnum
- Boss TweedBoss TweedWilliam Magear Tweed – often erroneously referred to as William Marcy Tweed , and widely known as "Boss" Tweed – was an American politician most notable for being the "boss" of Tammany Hall, the Democratic Party political machine that played a major role in the politics of 19th century...
- American RenaissanceAmerican RenaissanceIn the history of American architecture and the arts, the American Renaissance was the period in 1835-1880 characterized by renewed national self-confidence and a feeling that the United States was the heir to Greek democracy, Roman law, and Renaissance humanism...
- Gangs of New YorkGangs of New YorkGangs of New York is a 2002 historical film set in the mid-19th century in the Five Points district of New York City. It was directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Jay Cocks, Steven Zaillian, and Kenneth Lonergan. The film was inspired by Herbert Asbury's 1928 nonfiction book, The Gangs of New...