NO MAS
www.nomas-nyc.com
The thrill of victory and the ecstasy of defeat…
Founded by ex-journalist and childhood sports monomaniac, Chris
Isenberg, No Mas makes sports inspired art, apparel and media equally
devoted to the "the thrill of victory and the ecstasy of defeat."
The brand got its start in 2004, when Isenberg began to create t-
shirts for himself and friends which referenced iconic moments in
sports and celebrated his childhood athletic heroes. After receiving
a steady stream of compliments, protests, and requests to purchase on
the street, he began offering limited run pieces to Nom de Guerre and
Union in New York under the brand No Mas.
From its inception, No Mas was something between a streetwear brand
and an art project, as Isenberg was especially focused on what the
New York Times Magazine called “the deeper meaning of sports”. In
October 2005, No Mas presented “Fall Classic” at the Melody Weir
Gallery in Chelsea. Subtitiled “Remembrances and Ruminations on the
Precipitous Declines of Our Sporting Heroes”, the show dealt with the
generation of athletes rose to prominence and fell from grace in the
80s: Pete Rose, Darryl Strawberry, Dwight Gooden, Mike Tyson, Ben
Johnson, and Diego Maradona. The show featured work by Isenberg,
Mickey Duzyj, and outsider artist Black Dragon. Fall Classic was
extremely well-received by press and public, and Mickey Duzyj’s,
“Iron Mike – Vegas”, won a gold medal from the Society of Illustrators.
In 2006 Isenberg guest-edited a special No Mas sports issue of Frank
151 Magazine, which included interviews with Darryl Dawkins and Gay
Talese as well as photographs by Matthew Modine. No Mas continues to
publish original daily content on its website www.nomas-nyc.com.
In 2007 he staged “The Lottery”, a performance art show about the disparate fates of NBA draft picks. The show was sponsored by Puma and also featured a limited edition collaborative sneaker, which sold out in under an hour.
No Mas clothing is currently sold at over forty independent stores in
the US, Europe, and Japan including Union in New York, Fred Segal in
Los Angeles, Cali Roots in Sweden, and United Arrows in Japan. It
has been worn by Spike Lee, Adrien Grenier, Mark Ronson, Bobbito,
Dean Winters, and Eagles linebacker Dhani Jones.
No Mas has been featured in The New York Time Magazine, Esquire, The New York Post, Women’s Wear Daily, The Fader, Complex, Lodown, Mass Appeal, and online at coolhunting, hypebeast, uniwatch, murketing and
thrillist.com. Chris Isenberg was also recently interviewed for a special segment on NBC’s the TODAY show.