Apart from being the head of the FBI, Kash Patel has a ‘cooler’ other job as a clothing entrepreneur with his own label K$H—what else?

Kash Patel promoting his own brand. Screen shot: Based Apparel website

Hard it is to tell that Kash Patel owns a clothing line, but he does. Seriously. When we first noticed him, Mr Patel was part of a group that showed up in court in May 2024 to support the then presidential candidate during what was dubbed the “Hush Money” case. He told the media at the time that “we have a victim. That victim is Donald J. Trump”. Without the blessing of wit, that was all he could say. A stale platitude dressed as profound wisdom. The defendant was eventually found guilty. Mr Patel came not only to support Mr Trump in speech, but also in dress. Like the others of his fellow lackeys, he was wearing the official uniform of the party of one: dark suit and bright tie. It was hard, therefore, to reconcile Mr Patel’s clothing retail side line with his “political gladiator” persona and turnout.

Who would, indeed, have guessed that Mr Patel is a streetwear connoisseur? He co-owns a brand, Based Apparel, that peddles superficial bikercore vibe, laced with just-as-lame political call-to-action. Or, “banned ideas on tees.” The merchandising is not unlike what one might find at a MAGA stall during CPAC, or even Mr Trump’s own retail outlet, Trump Store. They are less about compelling fashion and more about a stellar excuse for political fundraising. The merchandise mix is typical of a store wearing its conservative political leaning on its front door: T-shirts, hoodies, caps, and T-shirts, hoodies, caps—mostly tops, except for a very odd pair of trousers, a “flannel pajama bottom” in a red tartan that might be the sleepwear you don on Christmas morning to gather what’s awaiting prettily under an over-decorated fir.

Based Apparel merchandise. Product photos: Based Apparel. Collage: Just So

The first thing that hit us on our first visit to the brand’s e-store was how underwhelming it was. The brand turned out to be, as they would say in Trumpland, all sizzle and no steak. Even the T-shirt with Mr Trump’s lawyer Alina Habba, still the billboard in motion for the Mar-a-Lago assembly line of aesthetics, was lame. But there is a glimmer of cheekiness and fun, such as the ‘Trumpamania’ tee that features a rather funny drawing of Hulk Hogan and, possibly the best, the pins and such, especially the ‘Steel Wall Art’, based on the ‘Orange Man Bad’, a flat illustration that is part you-know-who, part the Grim Reaper, part Skeletor, illustrated by a five-year-old manga fan. The fancy home decor is touted as “perfect for every mancave, inside or outside”. Charlie Kirk, if he were alive, would be delighted with such clever copy. If this were a physical store, you might find a gun shop at the back.

Ho-hum merchandise aside, there is the somewhat confusing branding. At first, there was the Kash Patel Foundation, a non-profit Mr Patel founded that, as Based Apparel tells us, “supports whistleblowers, education, defamation cases, etc.” The net profits from the sales of the clothing and accessories go to the Foundation. There is also the “Fight with Kash”-branded merchandise, which includes clothing and accessories like hoodies, beanies, and scarves. And there is the K$H moniker, sometimes used to refer to his merchandise, sometime to himself, a nick-naming convention that goes back to A$AP Rocky. All in, these different ventures form a multifaceted personal and political brand, firmly smudging the lines between his political and commercial activities, as the sales of the merchandise are used to promote his pernicious brand and raise funds. It is not known how well the brand has done.

Mr Patel promoting his children’s book, which is available on the e-shop of Based Apparel. Photo: Based Apparel

And there is the name Based Apparel. Although Mr Patel did not seem to have modeled his label after some phat hip-hop brand, he chose ‘based’, a slang term associated with the black community, used to describe someone who is his own target audience, or an action or event that is seen as bold and admirable, especially if it goes against conventional norms. Based was originally a negative term, one syllable short of “basehead”, referring to someone addicted to cocaine. The rapper Lil B is widely credited with reclaiming the word in the 2000s to mean being authentic and true to oneself. What is Mr Patel, an ethnic Indian, doing with a term that originated from Black language and culture? Word definition change as quickly as fashion. Based was adopted by individuals and groups on the political right to use as a term of praise for those who express views that are seen as “un-woke” or as defying liberal and mainstream conventions. Based Apparel is named to align with the term’s current political usage as a way to signal a connection to these online communities and to express a political identity.

There is no publicly available information about the date Based Apparel debuted, an unsurprisingly opaque start for a brand designed to blur the lines between politics and profit. State filings, however, show that the company was incorporated in Delaware in 2022. This places its founding in the same year as The Kash Foundation, and shortly after Mr Patel left at the end of Mr Trump’s first presidential term. But when it comes to the clothing business, there is more than the “banned ideas on tees”. It was discovered that the head of FBI worked as a consultant for Elite Depot, the Cayman Islands-registered parent company of Shein. According to financial disclosures, he was compensated with unvested stock worth between $1 million and $5 million. This has raised several ethical questions, including conflict of interest and yet, the FBI allowed him to retain the shares.

  Based Apparel advertising image. Screen shot: Based Apparel website

Apart from selling clothes, Mr Patel has time to write children books, specifically the series The Plot Against the King. Many of his critics saw the three-parter as a thinly veiled fictionalisation of real-world political events and figures, including, unsurprisingly, conspiracy theories. The author wrote himself into the stories as a heroic wizard named “Kash the Distinguished Discoverer”, who helps the unsubtly-named hero “King Donald” uncover the truth and crush his political enemies. King Donald, unlike the king wannabe of the present, dresses in a manner befitting a medieval monarch. He is depicted wearing a crown and an ermine-trimmed cloak over his Middle Ages-style clothes. He is also shown triumphantly wielding a scepter and wearing a medallion. Yet, his is still the king with no clothes. And children know better.

Kash the Distinguished Discoverer, in his day job, isn’t the first political figure to use clothing to hawk their rhetoric. We know Donald Trump is the master seller of them all. Trying to unseat him is Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert, two gregarious congresswomen with their own stores selling delightful merchandise, including T-shirts with glorious statements such as “The Right to Bear Arms”. And also the famous Alex Jones. Although he is not a traditional political figure, he does have a vast following as a conspiracy theorist and media personality. His Infowars stores sells not only politically themed merchandise, but also a wide range of products, including supplements and, of course, survival gear. And these retailers are quick to react, too. Not long after the killing of Charlie Kirk, Mr Patel swiftly added to the banner ad on the Based Apparel website with an image of him and the exigent message: “Choose Freedom. Shop Based.” While fighting for free speech, Kash Patel—and his cohorts—really wish to see you wear that right quite literally on your sleeve. No cuffs—it’s a terrible restraint.