The legendary story of Mr. Fliks was recovered from archives of the Municipality of Redondo Beach, California, USA, a quintessential laid-back beach town famous for its horseshoe shaped pier, just south of L.A.

The earliest reference to Mr. Fliks surfaced in the 2019 publication "Vintage T-shirts" by Lightning Archives.: the yellow T-shirt with the logo “Mr. Fliks” also in yellow (which can be admired in the attached photo) is one of our initial discoveries at the beginning this research project:
a 100% cotton T-shirt, which - according to the documents found in the archives - dates back to the end of the 60s: between 1967 and 1968.

This correlates exactly with the infamous so-called "Summer of Love" that exploded in California. It was the dawn of the summer of 1967 and a pilgrimage (swarm) of roughly 100,000 young people, later defined as "hippies" for their Bohemian (informal) style and love for an independent and peaceful life gathered in the Haight- Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco; infamous for its counterculture, in the name of free love and rock (psychedelic) music.

These same years saw the war in Vietnam; the Summer of Love generation, although strongly opposed to the decisions of the American government, found themselves being called to arms. On one hand these firm pacifists and idealistic “Flower Children” peacefully protested against the war using flowers to symbolize the ideals of universal belonging, love and peace. On the other hand returning soldiers often protested wearing the same symbols that they, “American soldiers” wore in Vietnam during combat: the "M-65" Field Jacket was being worn in large gatherings, rock concerts and in everyday life. It was undeclared but evident that the objective of wearing the M-65 Field Jacket was to strip those symbols of their military function and to rebrand them as symbols of peace and the counter-culture. As with the M-65, this trend to rebrand was also applied to other 'symbols' of war that the USA carried out at the behest of then President Nixon.  After all, they were work clothes, practical and just as good for civilian life as for military use. In addition to the materials used and the appealing color coded "Olive Green 107", they were windproof and very resistant to wear with detachable interiors which made them good for any season. Fatigue pants and shirts with chest pockets, which were originally designed for working and fighting in the jungle were worn in conjunction with the M-65 jacket. All of the other elements designed for war were gradually transformed into symbols of peace as well.

It is in this context that the figure and story of Mr. Fliks fits in. Fliks is one of the many conscripted American boys, veterans of the Vietnam War who, upon returning home to Redondo Beach, brought with him the uniform and standardized dress that accompanied him during the long months of fighting in the Vietnam jungle. The nickname “Mr. Fliks” was acquired in Vietnam and among his things, he had a particular passion for an element of American equipment that had not yet been adopted by the Summer of Love generation.
This passion was for the shoes worn by the US Navy troops, in particular the vulcanized model called “Deck Shoes”. These deck shoes had been worn by US sailors on American aircraft carriers since the Second World War. 

Mr. Fliks recognized the great success of military-derived garments among his military companions and every day civilians, which prompted him to produce a small supply of the same shoes.  A a small and elegant inscription just below and in correspondence with the ankle bone, was added immortalizing his country of origin (place of birth), which is home to many adventures of love and freedom: “Redondo Beach, CA”. Alongside the inscription was a significant and meaningful addition of two small, elegant stars as a tribute to the stars of the Californian night sky.