Apartments & Inflation 4” sew on patch

At 13 inches, Apartments & Inflation stops being a detail & becomes a declaration. The familiar municipal language is blown up to full scale—like an official notice the city never mailed but everyone received anyway. Soaring rent. Devalued dollars. Stamped, sanctioned, unavoidable.

The reimagined caduceus sits at the center, its serpents replaced by rats—New York City’s most persistent residents—twisting around the staff of commerce with grim humor. The wings nod to Hermes, but also to the city’s own “rats with wings,” pigeons hovering somewhere between trash cans & mythology. Above it all, burning money crowns the seal, while the apartment building below—lined with fire escapes—suggests a longing to get out, or at least back to something simpler.

At this scale, the patch becomes architectural. It reads like infrastructure.

Made to be sewn into statement pieces:

• The full back of a military surplus jacket or parka
• A heavyweight workwear coat or vintage sanitation-style jacket
• The center panel of a duffel bag, art bag, or travel case
• A canvas wall banner or studio backdrop
• A folded throw blanket or quilted liner
• A chair back, stool top, or custom upholstery piece
• The back of a rain shell or field jacket as a wearable protest

Fully embroidered & built to last, this 13” patch turns satire into surface area. It’s not just something you wear; it’s something you carry, display, or live with.

Because at this size, the message isn’t subtle.

It’s civic.

It’s public.

& it’s painfully accurate.