About Us
TomBasco Brand up cycles thrifted and donated clothing, saving them a trip to the landfill. Old forgotten threads are altered into one of a kind, bold power folk art streetwear! All our pieces are individually created and never copied. Discover your favorite sustainable truly one off piece of bold clothing that is never handled by a machine or robot.
With the United States DOUBLING its textile waste over the last 20 years, we like to believe we are entering the fashion industry while helping the environment. Doing our best not to condone to the 17 million tons of textile waste every year in the U.S, alone.
Who is Tommy?
Meet Tommy, the creative force behind TomBasco Brand. Growing up in Benton, Arkansas, with artistic vibes from his uncles and grandma, Tommy’s passion for art runs deep. His Uncle Ted rocked Ed Roth-inspired illustrations, while Uncle Sonny crafted detailed WWII-themed artwork—both shaping Tommy’s love for creativity.
Before finding his groove in a tattoo shop, Tommy worked a bunch of hands-on jobs. Now, he’s a jack-of-all-trades, taking on everything from wood cutouts and sign painting to welding, screen-printing, upcycling, and even building custom motorcycles. His home and studio are packed with his art and pieces from fellow artists.
With limited space to showcase it all, Tommy’s always thinking up new ways to get his work out there. Follow him on social media to see what he's up to next!
What is 1 of 1 Fashion?
Our one off clothing idea started in the beginning of 2020. The world was shutting down and outsourcing for a vision wasn't working out as planned. That's when we had the bright idea of doing it ourselves so we could control every step of the process to get the outcome we were looking for. Tommy started looking into screen printing equipment but saw an opportunity to build his own press out of materials we had lying around the garage leftover from countless other projects. Those estate sale trips really came in handy.
As artists, we had a ton of old canvas' lying around the house, so they got torn apart and turned into homemade screens. The next hurdle was getting art onto the screens. Without all the fancy equipment there's only one way Tommy knows best, and that is by hand! The screens are all hand painted therefore never going through a digitizing process and staying as organic as possible.
Next came printing... With the shutdown in place, and nowhere to go... we were doing a lot of decluttering and had several clothes to rid once time allowed. Instead of dumping them off at BadWill, we started printing on any material that fit on the platen. This gave us the opportunity to learn which materials worked best with water-based inks and a heat gun. It also allowed us to print on clothing you don't usually see screen printed at the mall.
Since we print on so many different materials, everything is heat set by hand using a heat gut and a laser point thermometer. This insures we cure the ink correctly and allows the correct timing we couldn't streamline in a conveyer dryer. After each piece completes the printing process, they're inventoried with our handmade tags.
All of this is what makes your TomBasco Brand clothing article "1 of 1." It is just that, one off! This is the only one like it. Since clothing is upcycled and sourced from a number of resources, we do not create two of the same pieces of clothing. Even if we happen to get a few of the same blank shirts, they all get printed on differently and some get acid washed!
Our tags are hand cut and stamped. The inventory numbers are tracked so we can do giveaways on our social media platforms. If you ever buy a one-off piece of clothing, be sure to hold onto your inventory tag so you can see if you win!