Why is there no fun underwear in the world?
Joan Kovatch and Dylan West were sitting on their couch one day, pondering this, lamenting the lack of undergarments covered in prints of furry, feral creatures (flowers aren’t really their thing). Struck by a burst of spontaneous inspiration, the couple decided to do something about it, and Critter Butts was born.
“Our original plan was to make patterns for underwear and make our own underwear and then we were like, ‘slow your roll,’” says West. “Maybe start with something that’s manageable, like cards, and learning how to print.
Prior to launching Critter Butts, West had done a bit of linoleum carving, but Kovatch hadn’t, so the pair got to work figuring out how to bring their designs to life. Learning a new art form to open a new business might seem like a risky move, but they were up for the challenge.
“Before this we’ve both been involved in a ton of crafts,” says West. “We’re both neurodivergent and, just, are all over the place all the time.”
The couple are always down to acquire new skills, adds Kovatch. After learning how to make cheese, build houses, tan hides, taxidermy animals, and sew clothes, carving and printing came naturally.
By summer of 2021, West and Kovatch were ready to take Critter Butts to market. They started at Ix’s Thursday Sunset Market, before eventually moving to the Saturday slot.
Today, the Critter Butts booth is full of delightfully queer block-printed artwork on stickers, cards, prints, and shirts—no underwear, yet.
“Be gay do crimes” features a bushy-tailed squirrel, gearing up to do some damage. On another design, tiny trash cans and the words “live fast eat trash,” written in an old biker-style font, frame a raccoon. All of the designs are hand-carved, and most of the products are hand-printed.
The couple endearingly describe their work as “queer feral trash creature art.”
“I often think of queer people as similar to possums or raccoons or squirrels—maybe considered beautiful, but often considered fearful, or a nuisance for the unique ways they figure out to survive civilization, and how they inconvenience normal humans,” Kovatch says. “Queer people, though we are socialized into straight society, in some ways have to unlearn all we’re taught in order to survive as our real selves—to learn to trust our instincts and our inherent worth, even if much of society decides to demonize us. So, feral trash creatures.”
Kovatch continues, “it’s important for us to flag our weirdness enough that other weird people who feel isolated feel okay coming up to us. And that’s been a really, really big part of market.”
The Critter Butts booth at Ix has become an unofficial queer social hub. Folks gather underneath the pride and trans flags always hanging from the tent to trade stories, share life updates, and just be together in community.
They walk away feeling a little less alone, with a card or two, and perhaps one day, a sick new pair of undies.