Published Aug. 20, 2026at6:00am
Inspiration for great merch can happen anywhere.
Anthony Strong, chef-owner of Pasta Supply Co (opens in new tab), found it during a research trip to Italy. He and his wife were in Emilia-Romagna. She was wearing a shirt with the album cover for Joy Division’s “Unknown Pleasures.” “I had pasta on the brain,” Strong says. “I realized, ‘Oh, you know what would make cool merch? The Joy Division album cover — but pasta.” Back home, they reimagined the design, transforming its spiky radio waves into strands of spaghetti. They printed it on black shirts and canvas totes, which have been such a hit that they’re now in their ninth printing run.
Pasta Supply Co’s lineup of branded shirts. | Source: Courtesy of Pasta Supply Co.
Strong, who was most recently struck with new design inspiration during a four-hour wait at the San Francisco Permit Center, isn’t just a producer of top-tier merch. He’s also a consumer and has picked up “irreverent” branded swag from the Richmond restaurant The Laundromat, which sells shirts, hats, and onesies emblazoned with a waving bagel (opens in new tab) and $15 ice bags (opens in new tab) for chilling bottles of wine on the go. “Irony and nostalgia seem to be on trend these days,” Strong says.