Heated Words Searching for a Mysterious Typeface

Unique in the histories of typography and street fashion, the lettering that is the subject of this brilliant survey remains without attribution—a typeface created anonymously and passed down over decades and across subcultures, establishing itself as the de facto font of rebellion.

As more than 300 richly layered illustrations in the book reveal, this particular typeface—bold, neo-Gothic, and imposing—decorates the fabric of the most influential music and fashion subcultures of the last half-century. Having evolved from embellished military flight jackets and sports uniform lettering in the early part of the twentieth century, the typeface appears on the denim vests of street gangs, the t-shirts of B-Boys in the 1970s, and the lo-fi DIY outfits of punk kids through the 1980s. Since its heyday as the Helvetica of the hip-hop generation, the font is once again an inescapable element of referential contemporary street style.

Creatively designed with images on top of images to reference the layering process of cultural appropriation, and with contributions from insightful voices in the fields of music, fashion, and typography—including Andy Cruz and Jonathan Hoefler—this book is a celebration of the ingenuity and irreverence of street style. A must-have reference for designers and students of fashion and typography.

Rory McCartney is a creative director working within art, fashion, and music. He established Modern Construct, a creative practice with a focus on typography, and holds a research position at The Slade School of Fine Art, London. Charlie Morgan has spent the last quarter-century at the intersection between brands and culture, working in-house with brands such as Crooked Tongues, VANS, VICE, and New Balance.