The Return of Das Monk

admin    T-Shirt Reviews     Das Monk, Gong, Kerouac, MGMT, Morrisey, TV on the Radio, designer tees, hawkwind, hippie tees, illustrated shirts, illustration, trippy t-shirts

It’s been a while since we’ve featured the Das Monk t-shirt label and seeing as they’ve just released a brand new collection this seems the most opportune moment. As always Das Monk’s founder and designer Marc Hendrick has pulled out all the stops in order to wow his loyal following and the t-shirt buying public at large. Over recent years Das Monk has expanded into an international fashion label, now being stocked in 20 major stores across the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Experimentation is always at the forefront of the label’s raison d’√™tre, and in more recent times collaboration has too been the name of the game.

The latest symbiosis of talent and style comes from the infusion of Designer Marc Hendrick’s collaboration with international artists Zach Johnsen (US), Tim Laing (UK), Evan Meister (US), and Keenan Marshall Keller (US) for the unique designs in this latest collection. Hendrick’s unique choices in approach and style for the Das monk label have given rise to a cult following over recent years with cult music industry names like MGMT, TV on the Radio, Lupe Fiasco, A-Trak, Van She and Justice all backing the brand’s indomitable rising power in the field of tees.

Combining new designs with old favourites the latest collection is themed as a ‘Midnight in the Mojave’ depicting a story of bad trips, drifters, and desert dreaming in the void of the desert landscape and urban drop-out mythology. Continuing its post-modern take on 21st century psychedelia, tinged with the down-to-earth pain and hardship of a life on the rocks, infusing the bizarre, the irreverence and foresight of yet another lost generation. Let’s take a look behind the monastery walls and see what’s hanging on the line this season:-

Drifter Tee

Almost unintentionally shamanistic, Drifter depicts a man who has struggle through the desert and returned, never to be the same again, a rockabilly with bite, a soul lost and found after a journey that no sane person would deliberately take. Having dragged himself through the wilds of nature the experience has left a thorn in his side as a permanent reminder of the trials of survival and fortitude the most barren of landscapes provide. This is an amazing piece of illustration by UK illustrator Tim Laing, iconic, sublime, and hilarious if you’re in the mood. Rather Morrisey-esque as a design, I love the detailing of the cougar (I am guessing) in the quiff, a truly original concept perfectly transferred in to the medium of the tee. Digital print on white 100% cotton t-shirt available for AUD $59 in sizes S – XL. Also available in grey/marle.

Quartz Tee

This rather sublime design entitled Quartz designed by Marc Hendrick himself has a superbly tactile appearance, in some ways rather hypnotic which I assume was the intention, take a closer look at the detailing of the crystalline shapes, one could truly get lost in the majesty of the crystalline formations of nature. I was raised within a short walk of a fascinating underground system of prehistoric tunnels called Chislehurst Caves, it runs right beneath most of London, at some points as far as 30 or 40 miles across and down. Asides the numerous ghost stories and underground WW2 bunkers, hospitals, and shops there are some fascinating crystalline structures, almost mesmerising, as a kid my dad would always buy me and my sister a small chunk of quartz to hang around our necks to remind us of the day. When one gazes into the structure of a crystal one is almost perceiving infinity itself. As a sidenote, even Jimi Hendrix played a gig in those caves, that should give you some idea of how trippy they are. Quartz – a fascinating design, a fabulous t-shirt – Quartz is available in black in sizes S – XL at AUD $59.

Kaleidoscope Tee

This is another Marc Hendrick piece, Kaleidscope is a rather playful design, interpretatively conceived and drawn, and reminiscent of childhood memories and lost drug experiences, staring through the spectrum of colour, shape and size, first tentatively and soon inexcorably twisting and turning for more and more combinations of pattern, hue and light. It would be nice if someone out there could manufacture a pair of shades with the same effect, I’m sure they’d go down a storm in Amsterdam amongst other places ;) The Kaleidscope tee is available in white at AUD $59 sizes S – XL.

Desert Eye Tee

Designed by Evan Meister, the Desert Eye tee is suitably fitting to the theme of “the drifter”, this particular tee reminds me of a few early Hawkwind album covers, dare I say it even Gong? Of course the eclectic stylings and post-modern references leads towards Rauschenberg and others in the late-Abstract Expressionist / pre-Pop Art period, but at first glance this is hippie backpacker rock star drug fiend mind-meld fashion through and through. I love the simplicity of the details which are almost medieval in line, and would like to see a majestically coloured version of this illustration, if only to satisfy the hazy nostalgia of my Psilocybin-fuelled youth. Desert Eye is available in Grey/Marle for AUD $59 in sizes S – XL.

Now go walkabout in the lost horizons of your mind at Das Monk, and don’t return until you’ve either bought a cool t-shirt or found the meaning of life :p

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