About

Fallen Cargo is about decolonizing design and questioning social constructs that erase culture. It is about critiquing the standard and giving value to the invisible and the mundane through art + design. The goal of this brand is to tell our stories, document black culture, and create a more equitable world. Kill the vultures. Preserve the culture.

Fallen Cargo was founded in 2016 on the design practices of Ally Thatcher, a visual designer and illustrator based in Massachusetts. The brand name plays off the phrase,
“It fell off a truck.”, a euphemism for purchasing exclusive stolen goods. It is a familiar phrase within the culture of streetwear. If someone asks where you got an exclusive hook-up on the
latest trend, you say, “It fell of a truck” so no one can bite-off your style. Fallen Cargo speaks
to the ways mainstream industries mine for access to black culture without understanding the spirit of black folks and our history.

The inspiration for Fallen Cargo’s visual language emerges from packaging iconography, Black American culture, hip-hop, art, design and history. The brand combines streetwear with conceptual design and experimental typography.