Jonny Banger's bootlegs

Available for over a year

Sports Banger is a fashion house, rave organisation, and London community centre run by Jonny Banger. The cornerstone of their work is bootleg T-shirts which mix satire and humour with a sportswear aesthetic. One of Sports Banger’s best-known t-shirts features two very different and well-known brands - the Nike and the UK’s National Health Service. In 2020, this simple T-shirt became highly-coveted. Selling out in minutes on limited runs during the height of the UK’s COVID lockdowns, Jonny Banger used the proceeds to set up a food bank in his neighbourhood, feeding 160 families every week for two years. Despite this blending of fashion and community action, Jonny doesn’t refer to himself as an activist; he struggles to call himself an artist. Poet Talia Randall meets Jonny in his studio - Maison de Bang Bang - at a turning point in his career. After a decade of DIY fashion shows, raves and viral T-shirts, Jonny is trying to figure out who he is, what to call himself and where he’s going. Producer/Presenter: Talia Randall Executive producer: Kate Holland A Storyglass production for BBC World Service