The Cherub

There’s quite a few Prps tattoos around – and the image people most often choose is our symbol the wounded Cherub, getting about on crutches but still smiling.

That cherub, concept and execution, sprang from the nimble 2HB pencil of our Founder, Donwan Harrell, who happens to be an actual, real artist; not even the conceptual type who can blow your mind without you understanding what they’re saying, but the old-school type of artist, an actual guy who can sit down anywhere with some lead and a pad, and make the page jump alive with his vision.

Though already a leading designer, finding a logo for the new PRPS brand, a very personal project for Harrell, was more challenging than usual. As it so often does, his mind turned to vintage cars, particularly Nascar’s daring ’69 Daytona, so wildly innovative that it proved impossible to drive on regular streets and soon became extinct. But its protuberant aerodynamic oblong rear “wing,” designed to slow air drag, continued to intrigue fans. Something about the wing’s stubborn panache echoed through to Harrell as a resilient winged cherub. We all have an angelic side, but sometimes circumstances invite the demon in us to step forward. Yet though it’s tested, even sometimes overshadowed, that inner angel still hangs on in there – bruised but not broken, as our Motto says.

But even beyond the race cars, the Cherub expresses our core beliefs – perfectionism, persistence, and purpose. Admiring the way its makers had adapted household rivets to fix the pockets of some ancient jeans, Donwan noted, “It’s more valuable bruised but present than when it was crisp and new. Just like the human spirit...and our Cherub.”