The Hermit Returns!

admin    T-Shirt News     Concrete Hermit, art t-shirts, concretehermit.com

Concrete Hermit are back bigger and better than ever with a fabulous new selection of quirky art shirts designed by top artists from around the world. For those not in the know check out my past review entitled Solid As a Rock – Concrete Hermit. For the rest of us I think we should just on and check out what goodies the Hermit has brought back from his travels to the back and beyond of t-shirt inspired revelry and delirium, in that order… read more

Delete Toast Tees

admin    T-Shirt Reviews     Delete Toast, art t-shirt, art t-shirts, art tees, designer t-shirts, photo montage, surreal tees

Here’s a brand new label, and I mean so fresh off the press it’ll burn your fingers. Delete Toast, which must be the strangest name for a t-shirt brand I have come across so far, are offering a slick batch of super fine tees to kick things off. Recently started by Joyce Kim, a professional graphic designer with an advertising/art direction background from NY’s Pratt institute, you can expect quality over quantity.

I asked Joyce about the name, “it’s simply a happy accident, a random blending of two words to form a new oxymoron.” Much like her t-shirt designs which are for the main part collages/photo montages, peppered with rather funky typographic and abstract experiments. Joyce lists her influences far and wide, being inspired by the fine arts, abstract graphics, nature, music, streetwear, and high fashion, her tastes and style are indeed eclectic.

There are only a few tees on offer at the moment, but rest assured more are to come, still what there is on offer is top quality so… let’s get toasty

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Solid As A Rock – Concrete Hermit

admin    T-Shirt Reviews     British fashion, Concrete Hermit, UK art, UK t-shirts, art t-shirts, concretehermit.com, illustration tees, urban art

First off if you’ve already discovered the visual exuberance and style of Concrete Hermit then head on over to www.ConcreteHermit.com where they’re offering a 10% discount – just enter HERMITCHRISTMAS at the checkout – it applies to all their products in the run up to Christmas. If not, read on. I’ve only just discovered Concrete Hermit myself after receiving a friendly email from Charlie Hood who works at their East End London shop and gallery regarding the pre-Xmas sale and a forthcoming new season of tees for 2010. However let’s begin at the beginning, CH are all about the art, that’s a fact, if you’re like me and like your art with an urban slant then you’re in luck. CH’s store offers a salubrious feast for the eyes including t-shirts, sweatshirts, screen prints, posters, original art, books and even vinyl toys. There’s also limited edition CDs and postcards on offer, plus regular exhibitions at their gallery in Club Row that have featured such luminaries of the graphic design, illustration, fashion, and urban arts scene as Anthony Burrill, Lazy Oaf, Jeremyville and Eskimopush.

There are t-shirts on offer by many of Concrete Hermit’s past exhibitors as well as their Tate Modern series, and all I can say is expect eclectic, the styles vary from artist to artist, and every one of them shines with that street savvy East End style you’d expect from the British urban arts scene. Time and time again I come across street, graffiti and urban artists and galleries online, people I can visually and creatively connect with on so many levels, and more and more I am convinced I am seriously missing out on what maybe the most exciting explosion in visual arts in London for quite some time now. It’s difficult for me being based way out here on the coast to really keep up with all the goings on there, but thankfully sites like Concrete Hermit keep me up-to-date and I’m grateful for it. Who knows, if my proverbial ticket ever crops up perhaps I can one day afford to relocate to the heart of the street art community, but for now, as I say, it’s good to know that sites like this can provide me and many others in my position with the cultural lifeline we so desperately need!

So, let’s get back to the point of this post, the t-shirts, and here we go with a few of my favourite picks at Concrete Hermit:-

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Two Tees From Infinite Now

admin    T-Shirt News     The Infinite Now, art shirts, art t-shirts, art tees, designer tees, infinite now, infinite-now-com

The Infinite Now are a brand new t-shirt label, they’ve only two t-shirts on offer right now, which as far as I can recall isn’t exactly infinite, although I have an inkling the reference is more to do with image and design, repetition, the abstract and perhaps even potential. Sean of I-N seems a friendly guy, he’s keen, he’s motivated and he’s already built himself a rather smart site.

I’m always receiving emails from new t-shirt designers asking for my critique regarding everything from website design to t-shirt ideas. When it comes to presentation www.Infinite-Now.com go a long way to offering a perfect example of content over concept, a concept is great, branding is essential, but great products tied with great presentation go far further. If you’re proud of your designs you’ll offer up large and clear photos of your products, Sean’s site does just that.

What’s more I-N are bang on when it comes to quality, with some extremely subtle imagery, good quality printing and a nice line in unique printed labels, this is certainly a brand to watch for the future. Hook up with The Infinite Now at Facebook to learn more about I-N. read more

Simplified Sale!

admin    T-Shirt News     Simplified Clothing, airplane t-shirt, airplane tee, art shirts, art t-shirts, discount tees, simplifiedclothingdesign, t-shirt sale

Here’s a quickie to let you know that SimplifiedClothingDesign.com are running a weekend sale starting lasting until Sunday night at midnight. All of our t-shirts are now $10+ off including free domestic shipping (USA). If you don’t remember our review of Simplified Clothing’s cool tees click here

Here’s my personal fave at SCD’s store right now:-

Airplane Tee

Just $15 for the weekend sale so get down there and grab this classic (and others) dirt cheap! To stay updated on future sales hook up with SC at Facebook and Twitter.

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Always Read The FinePrint!

admin    T-Shirt Reviews     Chicago t-shirts, Chicago tees, Obama, The Fineprint, art, art shirts, art t-shirts, basketball, charity, fine print, limited edition t-shirts

…And Wear It Too. Don’t worry, I’m not about to start dishing out legal advice, The Fineprint are a Chicago-based design company featuring limited- edition apparel and original artwork. Offering a fine line between fashion and art, The FP offer a wider range of highly unique, generously proportioned designs for artistic lovers of limited edition tees. They offer a creative bridge for Chicago artists to reach a wider fan base of customers looking for something a little different for the wardrobe. Selling both apparel and art online they aim to showcase local talent in the Chicago area, providing an arts hub for customers worldwide, Fineprint aim to open the eyes of the art market to the hidden talents of the windy city. The Fineprint prints all of their tees and art in Chicago, using water-based, non-toxic inks that are safe for the consumer, the environment, and their employees.

The FP offer a strong commitment to their local community, and have hooked up with DonorsChoose.org in order to support public school teachers requiring funding for independent projects. The Fineprint have already provided funding for a project that will give young men and women from the Hyde Park Academy High School access to “the Art of Airbrushing”. They aim to fund many more projects for the future with your support.

Artistically The FP’s aspirations are just as lofty with a strong collection of cultural and political tees and prints that reflect Chicago, America and global ideologies in equal measure. Ranging from urban culture to city scapes, the famous and infamous, our relationship with nature and both historical and contemporary art and literature, The Fineprint offer a unique yet eclectic broad brush of ideologies rarely seen as subject matter for the humble tee. Their handmade product range are of a high quality, all hand printed and highly desirable for those seeking alternatives to the mainstream fashion scene. read more

Do Believe The Hypothesis

admin    T-Shirt Reviews     art t-shirts, hpothesis inc, hyp-inc, hyp-inc.com, indie design, indie t-shirts, music tees

Hyp-Inc.com (aka Hypothesis Inc. Theory Of Self Co.) are a hot label with some very smooth tees on offer, in fact the same can be said for their very Flash site which exudes a gritty urban surrealist style from the word go. Their eye for the new and original is something to behold, don’t expect anything but out of the ordinary at Hyp-Inc, who essentially have a slant on life and all that entails you won’t find on your big labels or even most home-grown indie brands. Their positioning is near enough unique, more commercial than the usual art t-shirts available on the net, but always distinct and irreverent in both graphic sensuality and purpose rarely found in the back catalogues of their larger competitors.

Be different, that seems to be the ongoing theme, not as such an out and out ’shock passers-by’ tactic for design, but they make a strong impression and a lustrous statement of intent all the same. If I didn’t know better I’d guess these guys have been channelling Magritte from beyond the grave, their array of surrealist tricks is impressive, their simple messages are definitely head turners in a crowd, but subtlety (for once) abounds. Fine t-shirts for fine minds.

I can’t hook you up with product pages as such, but you will definitely have fun wandering around Hyp-Inc’s √ºber slick site, it almost looks like an online trailer for a Cannes winner or a game of mind over matter lushed out in gorgeous Photoshop grainy layers, drawing you in to a time that never was, to a place that never will be. The t-shirt titles are rather cryptic at times, which I like, the designs vary in styles, but there’s distinctly some Dada and Surrealist crossovers going on here. My favourites have a musical leaning, and as it happens Hyp-Inc have a strong following in the music industry, (amongst others) having created complex illustrative posters, CD and vinyl cover art, clothing and advertising imagery for a rich seam of cool bands and festivals including Phish, Matchbox 20, Disco Biscuits, as well as plenty of websites and businesses like www.footylovefilms.com. Expect the best of the best, no hype, just hypothesis with a firm footing in fact – check out these tees. read more

Psyched Tees From Disturbia Clothing

admin    T-Shirt Reviews     Disturbia, Disturbia Clothing, DisturbiaClothing.co.uk, Prodigy, UK t-shirts, art t-shirts, cool tees, edgy, political tees, punk t-shirts, rock, street, unique tees

First off I’m back, I’ve been to the back and beyond, I’m sunburned and peeling all over but all in all I feel fresh as a daisy so let’s get down to business and lay Disturbia Clothing on the Buy Tees couch and see what makes them and their legion of fans tick. If you’re already familiar with this edgy Brit label then you’re in good company. Check out this documentary of The Prodigy’s latest tour and you just might see Liam sporting one of their best-sellers, their Disco t-shirt.

I always feel right at home, culturally speaking, when I visit their site, everything from their products to the web design to their constantly updated left field blog shimmer with a slightly tongue-in-cheek British fervour for the hey days of punk. Their style spills right out onto their highly flamboyant illustrated t-shirt prints which are all highly recognisable as unique yet strangely familiar iconic pieces that make up their collection. Their ideas are their tour de force, some perhaps more obvious than others, but in a good way, in the way you might think ‘damn, I could have thought of that’ except you know you didn’t, and if you ever did, you know you’d never got around to creating them, because if you had I’d most likely be writing about your label right now :p

Their reputation has spread far and wide into the world of independent fashion retailing with 17 online stockists and what I guess must be another hundred or more stores selling their unique wares around the world. So if you like what you see then there’s no excuses when it comes to tracking down any of their infectiously irrational tees, hoodies and accessories (if you don’t order direct), besides which they have a handy mailing list so you can keep up to date with all their latest offerings no matter what corner of the world you may reside. So without further a due, rip a few holes in your best pair of jeans, stick a safety pin through your nose, kick the TV Screen, deface any image of royalty you may have lying around and get ready to enter the minds of Disturbia. read more

High Art Tees At OtherCriteria.com

admin    T-Shirt Reviews     British Art, Damien Hirst, For The Love Of God, Michael Joo, Other Criteria, Skull, UK art, White Cube, art, art t-shirts, art tees, othercriteria.com

Founded in London in 2005 Other Criteria was conceived primarily as a publishing company by Damien Hirst, Hugh Allan and Frank Dunphy, with creative directorship from Jason Beard. They work directly with Damien Hirst and a number of established and emerging artists to make limited editions and multiples, clothing, jewellery, photographs, posters, prints and books. I was recently approached by OC to review their unique collection of art tees, and I have to say it’s my pleasure to, being an artist myself I can fully appreciate the direction this company has taken, crossing the boundaries between art, design, fashion, and in particular their decision to market themselves to a new breed of discerning consumer, bypassing the need for the gallery or dealer, and offering something of true artistic value to suit every budget.

OtherCriteria.com, their online presence for the vision of an eleven strong team of designers, production managers and assistants, is supported by the off-line exposure of their merchandise at their two London stores, 36 New Bond Street, and 14 Hinde Street, London. I personally feel that this review represents a validation of my own beliefs that the humble t-shirt has until very recently been a neglected medium in the world of the arts and that perhaps now at long last both artist and collector can truly engage in a whole new field of creative consumerism unseen in retail history. From the likes of Damien Hirst to Banksy, a more general public have at long last been able to engage on a deeper level with every echelon of the artistic community, conceptually and emotionally helping to support their practice, forming their own base of opinion and venturing forth where no consumer has ventured before.

My own experiences of the British arts education system have left me somewhat jaded, with tutors and galleries alike assuming that only the elite can appraise, criticise or even purchase art. This seemed an outdated premise even then, some 20 years ago, but at long last with the progressive attitude of companies such as Other Criteria, the urban art movement, the rise of the global Internet community, and a general awareness by all of the context both sociopolitical and historical that we find ourselves in today, we can expect this to be but the beginning of a far more self-aware consumer revolution. The art market is also shifting in a new direction, unaffected by the establishment’s world weary view of what should constitute creativity. Art for the people = power to the people. Mass consumption has led to many problems in our age, yet now at long last the individual seeks more than an aggregation of the familiar, they crave the unique, the fundamentally altered, a higher perspective of both their own existence and the world we live in.

The contemplative, inspirational and highly acute products of OC are one example of a progressive wave of entrepreneurs and creative collectives aiming to offer an alternative vision, one that suffices more than mere need or want, supplanting the desire for the object with a heightened sense of realism, a proposal for a new and deeper relationship between consumer and producer. In this context, at this time of political, social and economic turbulence, quality of life, quality of experience, and quality of the product are at the forefront of public expectation. Now is the time to consider Other Criteria, and of course in particular their own fine range of art tees. read more

A Quarter Pound Sale At Kowtow

admin    T-Shirt News     25 percent, NZ, art t-shirts, discount, graphic tees, kowtow, organic, pop art, sale

If you’re not familiar with Kowtow Clothing I’ve written about them before here, they’re a New Zealand based fashion label with a great range of graphic t-shirts on offer. Anyway if you haven’t bought one of their iconic fashion items before then this is most certainly the time to hop on board, Kowtow are offering a whopping 25% off all their clothing now and until the end of February!

The only way to describe Kowtow’s style is uncompromising, if you have any antipodean assumptions floating around your head then Kowtow is most likely the best place to shake them up and leave them in a thosand tiny pieces. When I first came across their work I expected their studio to be based somewhere in the gritty underbelly of New York, artistically they lend a lot to the late 1960s Pop Art movement, names like Warhol and Rauschenberg are just two that come to mind. Their bold and upfront iconography has to be seen to believed, and their subject matter, well eclectic would be an underestimation. Furthermore all of Kowtow’s products are 100% organic and fairtrade, they even send a FREE CD with every order – anyway let’s take a look at a few of the goodies they have on offer right now! read more