OBEY Clothing was founded on the art, design and ideals of Shepard Fairey starting with an absurd sticker Fairey created in 1989. OBEY is rooted in the Do-It-Yourself counterculture of punk rock and skateboarding, but it has also taken cues from popular culture, commercial marketing and political messaging. With biting sarcasm verging on reverse psychology, Shepard Fairey goads viewers, using the imperative “obey,” to take heed of the propagandists out to bend the world to their agendas.