Printing the Collapse: First Impressions from the ‘I Survived’ Test Runs
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We’ve survived a lot. Printing this shirt was no exception.
Last week, we screen printed our first test batch of the “I Survived ___ and All I Got Was This T-Shirt” design — not in a factory, but by hand, at a local makerspace surrounded by community, noise, and ink.
The goal? Proof of concept.
The result? Imperfect. Raw. Completely validating.
🧠 The Idea
This design was born out of exhaustion — and rage.
A wearable list of everything our generation was told to “just power through”:
- 9/11
- The War on Terror
- Recession after recession
- Trump
- COVID
- Climate collapse
- Student debt
- Mental health crisis
- The loss of Roe
- Rent spikes
- AI panic
- All of it.
This isn’t just a shirt. It’s a résumé for surviving late-stage capitalism.
🧵 The Print Process
We used manual screen printing — just mesh, ink, and elbow grease.
Each pull was slightly different:
- Some have small smears or off-kilter alignment
- Others hit clean but ghosted slightly in the underlayer
- A few just feel a little wrong — which, frankly, fits the theme
They’re not pristine. But that’s exactly the point.
These prints carry fingerprints. Pressure marks. Humanity.
They’re not mass-produced. They’re collapse-coded.
✅ What We Learned
- The design works. People feel it.
- The concept hits hard IRL — not just online.
- Imperfection actually amplifies the message.
- We’re 100% going forward with a refined, full production run (soon).
The test prints did their job: they proved this design deserves to exist — and that others want to wear the truth out loud.
🎁 Want One?
We’re giving away a few of these test shirts to early supporters.
To enter:
👉 Comment on our latest post with what you survived.
We’ll pick a few winners and ship them out for free — no strings, just solidarity.
Because if you’ve lived through all this? You’ve earned the right to wear it.
FAUX THREADS
Collapse Couture. Hand-made test prints. Slightly imperfect. Brutally honest.