Perfection is Boring:
We Are All Damaged Goods
Written by Leigh Pennington
Photos by Ana Candelaria & Provided by Damaged Goods
Published on February 18th, 2026
Damage is often seen as a hallmark of blemish, deterioration, or ruin. The cracks in the foundation that weaken the overall structural integrity of something that was once seemingly impervious. Nothing and no one is capable of holding off or averting damage, physical or emotional. It is a concrete and irrefutable fact of life. One that mistakenly receives a negative connotation. It is the damage we encounter in life, the glory of shabbiness, the vulnerability to wear and tear, that indicates and reveals true humanity, shared history, and acceptance.
Cole Rodby, the creator and owner of Damaged Goods Clothing, understands that it is in the damage that we find the most beauty. An acceptance of the inherent imperfection of ourselves, those rough edges that do not define us in our entirety, but nevertheless individuate our stories and provide a point of connection to the rest of humanity. Rodby holds that we are all damaged goods, and that is the most natural and interesting thing in the world.
The idea of Damaged Goods was shaped in large part by Rodby’s own mental health struggles he experienced in early adulthood.
The idea of Damaged Goods was shaped in large part by Rodby’s own mental health struggles he experienced in early adulthood. He recalled, “A lot of my anxiety that I’ve dealt with from day one is very physical, so overthinking breathing, overthinking blinking, your throat tightening up, your stomach hurting, and the more you think about it, the worse it gets…Throughout college, it just built and built… I didn’t really have the skills to manage it or accept it, and just control what I could control. I would fight it all day long. That it was success or failure if these triggers didn’t happen.”
Through much inner work, Rodby has since learned to frame his anxiety in a much different light. He credits this development to a shifted perspective, a steady stream of projects and initiatives that build confidence and inspiration for life. Projects such as creating Damaged Goods Clothing, as well as becoming more familiar with his own damage. “The last four years, really, since I started the brand, I’ve gotten a lot better at dealing with it. Doesn’t mean it goes away. Just slowly stacking habits, whether it’s having this brand that I’m extremely proud of, showing up every day and trying my hardest. As I’ve kind of poured myself into other things, I’ve accepted who I am. Your damage and your imperfections are not who you are, but running from them only hurts in my experience. That was the only way I knew how to handle them when I was younger, and I failed every time. I’ve understood that accepting them, understanding what they are, has been much more successful.”
The genesis of Damaged Goods started a few years after Rodby graduated college and was still semi-struggling in the turbulence of anxiety and sleepless nights. He recounted, “I still lived at home, 23 I think. One of my biggest issues was, and to this day, is improving sleep. When I try to sleep, one of the things that’s always helped me is to fantasize about things that aren’t real. Real life is stressful. So I used to fantasize about being famous in music, which I have no musical talent at all, but I love music. So it’s like, ‘What’s my life? Where am I gonna live in LA? What famous girlfriend will I have? What car will I own?’ Crazy stuff like that. But then also, a lot of celebrities or musicians have clothing brands, and I’ve always liked clothing, so I thought, ‘Oh, I would have a clothing brand as my side business.’ Then as the night goes on, ‘what’s my clothing brand?’ And then I thought about the mental health stuff. I know that’s kind of a weird combo. Like, imagine you’re famous with a Rolls Royce, and then thinking about your mental health, but whatever works to try to sleep. Then ‘Damaged Goods’ popped into my head.”
Over the next few weeks Rodby began to build the Damaged Goods concept, what it meant personally for him, and connected it to the journey of accepting his own mental health struggles.
Over the next few weeks Rodby began to build the Damaged Goods concept, what it meant personally for him, and connected it to the journey of accepting his own mental health struggles. “I just started with a few designs…The first couple designs I did were a broken motel sign, a damaged car. I’m still proud of those to this day. I drew those, worked with my friend from college to design them, went to my local print shop and made them. I had a little event with my friends. Just how proud I was of those first pieces. That pride I had is something that stuck with me, and a feeling that I just love.”
Over the last five years Rodby has designed and launched several collections that visually allude to the message of his brand. “Where a term like damaged goods, that’s generally negative, you can find the beauty in that. Our two taglines are, ‘we are all damaged goods’, and ‘find beauty in the damage’ and kind of the whole brand is rooted in flipping a negative term or damaged, broken down areas, using unlikely subjects for our designs, and kind of flipping that on its head. Celebrating the imperfections and damage of the world that can really be beautiful.”
One of Rodby’s most pride inducing collections, the Kintsugi collection, perhaps best encapsulates the message of the brand. Kintsugi, the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with gold lacquer, speaks to the increased value that can be found by acknowledging damage. The practice restores shattered pieces that then transcend into an object of even greater beauty and value. The sweat shirts and sweatpants all possess a rich gold embroidery, either on the front or back pocket of the garment.
For the collection, Rodby aimed to apply the distinctive cracked gold veins of Kintsugi, while retaining the everyday wearability of his clothes.
He explained, “where can I put the Kintsugi that I think will still not be too loud…It has to be subtle and something that people will feel comfortable wearing on an everyday basis. So putting it on the left pocket and the pocket on the back was a way to do that.”
Rodby describes his brand as a tried and true ‘bootstrap operation’. On any given day he can be scanning Pinterest for new inspirations, photographing for his website, steam ironing, maintaining the website, and running photoshoots. Almost always the locations where he photographs his clothes are in situ with the original inspiration for his collections: junkyards piled high with scrap metal, walls of broken mirrors, and of course the graffiti laden walls of the city.
Even before relocating to New York, graffiti was something that caught Rodby’s eye in Chicago as a distinct reflection of what would evolve into the Damaged Goods voice.
Even before relocating to New York, graffiti was something that caught Rodby’s eye in Chicago as a distinct reflection of what would evolve into the Damaged Goods voice. He recalled, “In the beginning of the brand, all of my photo shoots were outdoors. They were mostly in Chicago and the surrounding areas, and I would really look for abandoned spots. I don’t know if it’s the chicken or the egg, but I do find beauty in damage. The right damaged corner that’s being lit up by light, that dichotomy of light hitting a graffitied or abandoned corner in the right way. I actually think that’s one of the most visually stunning combinations you can find.”
Graffiti can breathe new life into old ruins, shape perspectives, and make the everyday onlooker notice objects or spaces that are perceived as common or even unattractive. Decrepit walls, dirt covered subway cars, and cracked city sidewalks are transformed into works of art. Inspired by the ethos of graffiti Rodby has produced his latest collection that pays homage to graffiti’s ability to find beauty in the damage. One particular facet of New York graffiti culture that intrigued Rodby was the slew of tags and throw-ups on trucks. This 60 year old practice is one of the foundational pillars of New York graffiti history.
The collection consists of hoodies, t-shirts, and crew necks all stylized to reflect New York’s trademark graffiti visuals and bubble lettering. “We have a big truck that is covered in our own custom graffiti logo, the DMGDS. One of my first North Stars was I wanted it to be legible. Then covered with a few easter eggs, ‘we’re all damaged goods’ and ‘find beauty in the damage’. I thought that was just a really cool way to play on the New York aspect of the abandoned trucks that are covered in graffiti…to create my version of a damaged truck and bring it back to life.”
Rodby recently completed the photoshoot for the collection in tandem with the Up Magazine team. Damaged Goods and Up Mag became affiliated a few years ago, as Rodby recalled, “I went to Sour Mouse, Up Magazine HQ, had a drink with TK, and just talked. We’re both running things that are freestyling, and just trying to figure it out. He’s doing the same. I was unbelievably impressed by how nice the magazine is, how cool it is, and how much of a legit magazine it is when it’s coming from a small team. I landed on the idea of representing graffiti in my clothes, so I hit him up and it turned out that he was doing the fashion edition five or six months after I started the collection, so I knew we had to collaborate on this. It’s actually the most people I’ve ever had in a single shoot. ”
In addition to wearing the message of Damaged Goods on one’s proverbial sleeve, the brand also possesses a philanthropic edge, with 5% of all sales donated to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA).
In addition to wearing the message of Damaged Goods on one’s proverbial sleeve, the brand also possesses a philanthropic edge, with 5% of all sales donated to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA). This act of giving Rodby stated, “is putting our money where our mouth is. Outside of being a creative expression for me, I want people to embrace their imperfections, to find them beautiful. When you’re wearing a damaged goods piece, I want you to be wearing your damage proudly and having an acceptance mindset. Going to therapy if you need it, being able to talk to someone if you need it. The ADAA has a really good track record of helping people do that. We’re a small brand. We can’t do everything, but I thought this is the small piece we can do when you’re supporting our brand, not only are you wearing your damage proudly and supporting our message but we’re all kind of contributing. So when you buy a piece of clothing I’m not paying that 5%, you are. We are all supporting this movement.”
The practice of acknowledging one’s imperfections has become more commonplace over the last few years. It was not but two generations earlier that people didn’t “believe in therapy” or assumed that having one’s “head shrunk” was a sign of weakness and social vulnerability. Folks kept their damage hidden, often to the detriment of themselves and those surrounding them. Today, people are more inclined to share, cross compare, and seek help for their mental health struggles. What was at one time perceived as an isolating and secretive portion of life, has now become a point of connection. Rodby added, “The Damaged Goods message of finding beauty in your flaws and being open with your flaws is a very accepting mindset, and I think a lot of people in our generation are kind of leaning into that thinking more. We can highlight our damage, because that doesn’t make us worse off, it makes us BETTER. We are all damaged goods, and I think people are ready more than ever to receive and bolster this message.”
@lb_pennington