"GOLDEN BOY" - Oversized Faded Black Tee

"GOLDEN BOY" - Oversized Faded Black Tee

A mask of gold hides all deformities. - Thomas Dekker

"GOLDEN BOY" was created as a piece inspired by the survivors of Canada’s residential school system, the children who never returned home, and the Indigenous families and communities who continue to carry the consequences today.

The Golden Boy is one of Manitoba’s most recognizable symbols. In this design, that polished image is deliberately scarred. A deep scratch cuts through the gold to reveal a skeleton beneath the surface, representing the painful history that can exist underneath the symbols, institutions, and stories a society chooses to celebrate.

The black bar across the statue’s eyes represents censorship, silence, and the suppression of uncomfortable truths.

Behind it, the Flip The Script logo and globe appear in bright orange in recognition of the colour’s connection to residential school survivors, remembrance, and Every Child Matters.

This piece is not intended to speak for Indigenous people or turn their suffering into an aesthetic. It was created in respect for the survivors who endured, the families who continue to heal, and the voices that refused to allow this history to disappear.

Some history is difficult to confront.

That does not give us the right to look away.

- G

Shirt Stats

• Oversized fit
• Heavy weight, 6.5 oz, 16-singles, 100% cotton
• Dropped shoulders, side neck ribbing with twin stitching, stone wash finish with a worn look, side seamed, shoulder to shoulder tape, double needle hems, acid wash look, preshrunk to minimize shrinkage