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A national trend has reached the Midwest and Des Moines, specifically, through clothing. Midwest natives are expressing their pride in their home state through what they wear. Several clothing stores across the Des Moines area have started clothing lines that involve a combination of Midwest pride, environmental awareness and political opinions. Using items such as t-shirts, hats and sweatshirts to get their message across. Stores such as RAYGUN and Locally Grown have created a source of pride through clothing that Des Moines and Iowa residents have been able to express themselves through.

Mike Draper, the founder of RAYGUN, uses political influence and a Midwest style imagination to create content that his store prints in-house on all their clothing.

“One of his first designs was ‘John Stewart For President’ and ‘Des Moines Hell Yes,’ so you could kind of say its a combination of liberal politics and midwestern pride,” said RAYGUN Creative Director Jennifer Leatherby.

When asked about the ideas for t-shirts and designs, Leatherby explained that it’s not one mind but many that have a say in the content and creations at RAYGUN.

“We have a chat called Slack that has all the employees for RAYGUN in it and everyone will pitch ideas or suggestions for t-shirts. We also meet once a month as a store and just think of new things we could bring to the table and really just use everyone’s ideas and opinions which is what I really like about it here,” Leatherby said.

RAYGUN is one of the more well-known local brands for graphic tees in Des Moines and has since been seen as the pioneer of this local Midwest trend. The trend of showing the pride of being from a certain part of the United States was mainly noticed on either coast for quite some time. However, places like RAYGUN and Locally Grown are stores that are trying to instill pride in the Midwest.  With shirts that resemble everything Iowa, from the state itself,  to common political views, and Midwest classic movies such as “Uncle Buck,” these comical graphic tees embalize the family-oriented Midwest lifestyle that Iowa seems to know, love and cherish.

Locally Grown was created by Fred Scott as an idea to sell at the Des Moines Farmers Market and has since blown up to something much bigger.

“It’s a brand that promotes a message of buying local, eating local, supporting local farmers and sharing state pride. I wanted to create something that not only looked good but also created an awareness to know where our food and materials come from,” Scott said.

Locally Grown has come a long way since its farmers market days and is now a nationally recognized brand that promotes messages not only for Midwestern states but for every state. Locally Grown also practices what they preach by designing and manufacturing all their apparel in the USA with eco-friendly materials that are found in the United States.

Both RAYGUN and Locally Grown have created clothing that are both appealing to the eye and are forms of expressive content. Whether it be political humor, environmental awareness or Midwestern pride, these stores have created a way for Midwestern natives to express themselves and bring people together.

“I think it’s cool to see stuff with my state on it,” said Hunter Klowever, a student at Grand View. “It definitely makes me feel proud to be from where I am from.”