It may be one of fashion’s easiest products, graphic t-shirts offer the simplest but most effective wardrobe statement.
It’s nice to swoon over pockets and details and stitching in pieces of outerwear. It’s great to admire the fit of certain pants, the way they fit on the top of a pair of trainers or shoes. It’s great to look for design details that help you understand what an item means or to trace a designer’s nuanced touch. But nothing is as immediate as the way a graphic t-shirt instantaneously demands a reaction.
Of course, graphic t-shirts can proudly contain a brand’s logo, but they can also be vehicles for social change, projecting slogans for political response. They can be antagonistic for the sake of it, shouting something designed to make mums double-take in the supermarket. They can be nonsensical, even memes.
LA-based Market has gained a cult following for its pop references, bootlegging, and cultural tweaking. The brand has become synonymous with the Acid House Smiley after securing a licensing deal with the original London based company, SmileyWorld. Their graphics don’t take themselves seriously, are playful, fun, and most importantly, loud.
Head to John Anthony to see a wider range, but expect drugs, death and protest, all wrapped up in a layer of jovial metaphorical bubble wrap.
