Jason Solarek, the East Village-based designer of Air Wear, explains his inspiration: I had the idea for Air Wear while working as a newspaper reporter in
Venezuela, and then at the U.S. Embassy in
Argentina. I thought people would enjoy having a memento to remember all the cool places one can visit. In making the design, it was important to me that the design be contemporary, artistic, abstract, sexy, and universal.
At first, the design is sort of a puzzle. You don't know what
IST,
BKK or
HGK is...but you see the plane and the barcode, and your brain is put to work. It's sort of satisfying to try and guess what IST is. Traveling can be a puzzle, and in a way, this series echoes that.
With this design, any location via its airport code can offer a memento - even the most remote. Whether it's your favorite city, your home, or the place you met your first love, Air Wear lets you remember and share it. Each Air Wear design includes the city name, airport code, and latitude.

Since I was born in Rochester, NY,
ROC was one of the first designs that I made. Other early designs also had personal significance, and include:
IST (where my first love lives),
NRT (where I attended college and learned judo),
AZO (where my brother lives), and
JFK (because NYC is home).
I have also always wanted to be from an exotic city...like many of the cities for which I have made a design.
We currently offer 133+ designs. We look forward to offering a design for the more than 4,000 airport codes so that anyone can share a favorite spot and memory.