Bite Life Tee @ Kiss Diss

admin    T-Shirts     Bite Life Tee, European fashion, Kiss Diss, Kiss Diss Clothing, graphic tees, streetwear

Yes life bites, well at least sometimes, but take some good advice from indie Euro fashion label Kiss Diss and try biting life back!

Bite Life Tee

Available in white, heather and black for €15 this shirt, for me, is kind of a bargain when you consider all the work that’s gone it to it. Definitely not for those with green fingered unless you don’t mind your plants giving you a prune, I can’t get over the detail, would have been nice to have got some big close-ups but you can tell it’s a really nice piece of art from the start. The label was started up in 2009 by Kluzehellion who does a great line in screen prints too.

Here’s the mantra:-

“A small independent clothing company embracing streetwear culture and graphic design, both innovating and experimenting with progressive style, culminating in an abrupt action against branded culture.

Death. Cult. Women.”

Check out the rest of the collection at www.kissdissclothing.com.

A T-Shirt Renaissance At Sistine

admin    T-Shirt Discounts, T-Shirt Reviews     NY shirts, Sistine, art shirts, art t-shirts, streetwear

The Sistine Chapel ceiling might be famous for Michaelangelo’s Creation of Adam, but Sistine, a progressive streetwear company based in NY, want to bring the same recognition to t-shirt art – and to be honest, they’re definitely going the right way about it! The site looks more like a gallery than a store, each product image is gilt framed and stacked together in collections for which you’ll find a lookbook on hand if you fancy taking a closer inspection. There’s a great little news section too, which does exactly what every good t-shirt brand blog should do – feature each and every t-shirt at the store alongside a decent background story on their inspiration and design.

Every tee at the store is  available in sizes S-XL at $36 each which doesn’t include shipping, that’s a little steep for me considering the print sizes, although we do have a special price for all our faithful Buy Tees readers! To save $6 on each and every tee in the store use the code LIVELETLIVE at the checkout and you’ll save yourself 15% of the usual price! Altogether there are thirteen shirts at the store including six from their winter collection which launched just last week and is simply titled “Live and Let Live” as you might have guessed by now :0 Here are a few of my faves… (sorry I can’t link to each tee – that’s Javascript for ya :/)

Genesis 2 Tee

Gods of technology or simply slaves?

Malus Tee

Boy meets girl, girl meets snake, girl eats apple.

Live and Let Die Tee

Donnie is looking older everyday.

Imprint Tee

I’m always a sucker for a Rorschach.

See the rest of both collections now at www.Sistine.co.

King Noir

admin    T-Shirt Reviews     King Noir, London, UK, art t-shirts, illustrations, streetwear, tattoo art

Founded in 2009 King Noir are a UK based streetwear brand, the brainchild of two highly creative friends from London, Lawrence Gumm and Thomas Gilmour, expect some very funky and original designs!. Set up shortly after Gilmour (not the voice and guitar of Pink Floyd in case you were wondering) lost his job in a London based art shop, he teamed up with pal Gumm. Lawrence Gumm harks from a film industry background and is a connoisseur of  tattoo art. Having been tattooed by some of the most widely respected artists on the scene such as Frith Street’s Xam, Deno and Valerie Vargas it was obvious where their passion and inspiration for outstanding design would spawn. After a few successful brainstorming sessions in an East End boozer the concept of King Noir was born.

There following is small but highly devoted, and with a little exposure I can see King Noir emerging as part of the staple diet of underground streetwear scene of London and beyond. Here’s a few of my faves from their current collection…

Balloon Vs. Storm T-Shirt

The Balloon Vs. Storm tee is available in B/W and red in sizes S-XL, this rather hypnotic little number features a beautiful composition and perhaps a lesson or two for life. A gloriously illustrated vintage hot air balloon that would make Phileas Fogg green with envy sails through a shower of arrows, beyond them lies an abstract sun featuring another of their motifs at its centre, an equally surreal crown with a third eye. At only £15 this and all of their t-shirts are what I would class as a bargain. I can imagine their prices much entice a lot of new custom, which is the whole point after all!

Ninety Nine Anchors T-Shirt

Another slice of utterly British surrealism, I can see King Noir gathering quite a following for their delightfully weird take on fashion. Ninety Nine Anchors features just that, except for some reason they’re dropping from a giant Victorian umbrella. I am starting to wonder if Gumm and Gilmour’s local boozer is spiking their drinks with hallucinogens. No matter what they’re drinking, it’s definitely the right poison. Perhaps the strangest nautical theme tee I’ve seen in a long long while, it’s available in white for £15 in all sizes.

Red Dead Doll T-Shirt

Loving the combo of a Russian doll and Day of The Dead art, this tee is again available in B/W and red there’s as with other shirts in the collection a ‘third eye’ peeking out of the design, and a very subtle use of the logo. A love the woodcut effect in this illustration, a great confluence between folk art and post modern grit give this t-shirt a real edge. Both colours are available for £15 each in all sizes.

Black Crown T-Shirt

The Crown tees are available in black, red and grey and feature their superbly simple yet downright strange logo. If you’re looking for bold design with no messing around then look no further. I get the notion there’s more to it though, living in Britain we’re not citizens but subjects of the Crown. We’re spied on by more cameras than any other country in the world. Two popular subjects for a lot of artists in the UK contemporary scene, this nifty combination of  two major problems blend into one gloriously tribal motif. Get this tee for £15 in all sizes.

Check out all their work including tees, badges, stickers, hats and limited edition posters at www.KingNoir.com and make sure to follow all their graphic exploits at Twitter.

King Apparel – Tees That Reign Supreme

admin    T-Shirt Reviews     British t-shirts, London fashion, London tees, UK, UK designer t-shirts, UK tees, king apparel, king-apparel.com, streetwear, urban

King-Apparel.com based in Stratford East London offer some of the slickest, soundest, graphic savvy tees in the streetwear market. If you’re looking for a label that delivers without question, has it’s finger on the pulse and can even tout its own branding without leaving a bad taste in your mouth then it has to be King Apparel.

It’s great to be reviewing another East London label, I really think something massive is happening down that way, both for arts and fashion, for a start Black Rat Press and a whole gang of great graffiti artists work down that way, and then there’s Cockney Empire I featured a while back. Of course just like many successful London labels, KA have a massive appeal around the world, partly down to their amazing marketing know how. Take a look at this poster for their next campaign, it takes its inspiration from the classic cult movie The Warriors (which you have to see if you love gritty 70s B-Movies – it’s required watching mate).

Anyway let’s take a butchers at their top-notch tees… read more