Any Means Necessary’s cofounder – artist Shawn Coss – discusses their first range of licensed apparel

Shortly, we’re going to chat about Any Means Necessary’s first licensing partnership. But what is Any Means Necessary? What it’s mission?
Any Means Necessary was created between two friends who were just tired of the rat race that was the American dream. We were working countless hours for large companies that didn’t even know our names. We wanted to create a movement through dark art, fashion and mental-health awareness. At the time, that had never been done before… Mental health was still a taboo topic. Our mission has always been to bring awareness to mental health and never compromise our views.

Great answer! Wow. Love it! Your first major licensing deal is with the US adult animated superhero TV series Invincible. What – in a nutshell – is that about?
Invincible is one of the hottest animated shows on Prime Video. It touches on the effects of trauma and stress through the coming-of-age journey of its main character, Mark Grayson… Mark Grayson is the son of Omni-Man, the most powerful superhero on the planet. The series never shies away from the darker aspects of humanity and how even in the darkest times, heroes can be born. It shows that everyone has their struggles – even those who seem invincible or have the strength to level cities.

Why is now the right time for this, Shawn?
Mental health has always been at the core of AMN’s identity. It’s always been a sensitive subject, and it’s just now starting to be given more light thanks to new discoveries and significant advancement in our understanding of it. In our current times, it seems like mental health has been beaten to an all time low, so it made sense for us to team up with Invincible to continue AMN’s advocacy and demonstrate through design how we can work to become invincible against those demons we battle.

You’ve said you want people to “wear their emotions.” How did that ethos shape the designs for this collection?
Sometimes, it’s hard to speak on how we feel. We fear we’ll be judged or misunderstood. Many people turn to outlets like art and clothing to be that voice. With each design within this Invincible collection, AMN is trying to tackle emotions stemming from anger, betrayal, fear, confidence and hopelessness through the intersection of art and fashion.

With the line dropping soon, what’ve you learned from this partnership?
That there’s a LOT that goes into the execution of releasing licensed work! That said, having the ability to tap into established fandoms allows us to achieve exposure as a brand at a level that we may not have been able to reach on our own.

Absolutely. Makes sense! What’s next for AMN?
We have a lineup of some amazing new licensing partnerships to come out in 2026. We’ve also just launched the third edition of my mental health book, It’s All In Your Head.

Ah! I’m glad you mentioned that… It looks fascinating; I’ll put a picture of that in here so people know what it looks like. How did you come to be doing this, Shawn? What’s your background?
It was pretty much that AMN’s co-founder and CEO, Mikey Nemitz, kept bugging me to do it until I gave in! Ha!

Ha! Nagged into a career! Perfect.
We’d became friends when we met at a rock show where I was selling my art. Before that, I was a full-time nurse working in the Emergency Department, and working with the online cartoon series, Cyanide and Happiness.

Amazing. Well, thank you for joining me, Shawn. And please thank Mike for making you.