410BC – An Age of Teemocracy

admin    T-Shirt Reviews     410BC, 410bc.com, NY fashion, designer, designer t-shirts, ethical fashion, hip hop, indie, political tees, punk, sweatshop free tees, urban wear

410BC is a New York based clothing company and arts collective with their finger on the pulse and their eyes on the horizon of change and equality. With a strong ethical background and a total commitment to the ecology and conscious consumerism in every aspect of the brand, they focus on strong conceptual design in equal measure favouring a wide spectrum of subculture arts including skater, punk, hip-hop, indie and D.I.Y. There is a really strong sense of community at their site www.410BC.com and they actively encourage participation from both their wide and loyal customer base and their eclectic band of designers and artists.

I usually ‘wing it’ when it comes to t-shirt reviews, preferring not to get to bogged down with subjective ideas from designers and focus on what I see the way I see it, sure it’s not particularly objective but it can be informative for both the label and the general t-shirt fan to see a different point of view to the traditional bog-standard interview format. However I have to admit I cheated a little when it came to the name of this particular brand, Nicole co-founder of 410BC enlightened me to its origin – “410 BC stands for the year Democracy was restored in Athens. The Athenians were at war, but they managed to restore their own institutions by fighting for what they believed in. We chose that name because it resonated with us strongly. Through the company we promote conscious consumerism and fighting for what you believe in. We believe in supporting artists, sending a positive message, only using sweatshop free and organic cotton tees and giving back to our community.” A rather admirable mantra for any fashion brand I am sure you will agree.

The company have definitely stuck to their roots from day one, unlike many brands in the market they like to stay as connected with their audience wherever possible, from their humble beginnings they have certainly picked up plenty of good habits, constantly pushing their positive message and encouraging public interaction all the way. Do have a read of their blog if you have a moment – there are some great fashion, style and other features going on there and whilst you’re at it check out their LookBook which features plenty of photos of past customers donning their marvellous clothes. Plus of course you can also meet and greet 410BC via Myspace, Flickr and see their latest vids at Youtube – oh and check out their latest contest too!

However ethics asides what’s as if not more satisfying for me is that their creative stance is as powerful as their ecological one with a cornucopia of great designs available at the store, an ecelctic range of sources and ideas for their particularly unique style, and to top it off a rather fabulous website to showcase their work. Let’s take a trip to 410BC and see exactly what makes them so special in the market today… read more

101 Apparel – The Sound of Fashion

admin    T-Shirt Reviews     101 Apparel, 101apparel.com, disco tees, discotheque t-shirt, dub reggae tees, music t-shirts, rock t-shirts, urban fashion, urban wear

If there’s one thing 101 Apparel love it’s music, their t-shirt collection affords us mere mortals the closest alignment between sound and vision since well I can’t think what, all I know is if fashion made a sound and you could see it, you most likely find it in 101′s vast range of killer urban shirts. If you’re a DJ, MC, a wannabe, or simply can’t do without expressing your love for great beats to the world, then at least one of 101′s tees has to be in your collection, no argument. Of course there’s plenty more to choose from at 101′s label, in case you’re feeling the chill and want to wrap up, including fleeces, hoodies and sweats, but as you may have guessed by now, we’re focusing on the tees, it’s what we do best ;)

Eric Crandell, the soulful style guru behind the label has a unique yet highly eclectic taste for musical vision. His designs travel through time and across the world in search of the best of the best in aural ecstasy, all the time passing a nod and a wink to the coolest sounds from the greatest genres and sub-genres of all-time. Hip Hop, Dub, Soul, Funk, Rock, you name it 101 Apparel has covered it, in fact they’re all over it like a ton of bricks, so unplug your ears, open your eyes, and get ready for some of the most sound shirts this side of a tropical dawn heaving with party revellers and show stealing dance-off kings and queens from every culture, creed and final destination. A lesson in style from 101 Apparel. read more

A Rendezvous With The Affair

admin    T-Shirt Reviews     London fashion, T-Shirt Designers, T-Shirts, UK tees, affair, edgy, intellectual, intelligent fashion, street wear, the-affair, the-affair.com, urban wear

Back in 2007, somewhere amidst the grimy boozers and back alleys of London’s East End, began a secret exchange of ideas and broken dreams, a contract of substance over style, a pact was made between Zoltan Csaki and Dave Black. Two intellectual fashion renegades, who vowed to change the face of street wear forever, they made a promise to themselves and the neglected savoir-faire of the urban wear industry that things must change, and thus The-Affair was born. An artistic partnership that has gone from strength to strength, as each new design is release under a cloud of mysterious expectancy, raw talent and shameless egotistic aspirations bucked the trend and defied logic, creating what maybe one of the most intellectually inspiring collections I’ve ever come across.

Inspired by a plethora of influence, deep within the left-field of political and social unrest, classic style and edgy post-modern whim collide in a spectacle of high-brow t-shirts that punch and kick our complacent C21st society below the cerebral belt. Delving deeper than the usual gamut of pop reference, into the nether regions of lost kudos, salvaging the best of the worst in life, turning diatribe on its head, formulating without a formula a series of head-turning, head-scratching t-shirts designed to shock and inspire in equal measure.

Each shirt is made as a limited edition run of 200, screen printed on succulently soft American Apparel tees for a luxurious and stylish cut to suit the most discernible of t-shirt aficionados, veritably the thinking man’s t-shirt designer. read more

New York Style For The World At R.A.G

admin    T-Shirt Reviews     NY, NY style, New York T-Shirts, R.A.G, Rag Clothing, Rag Manhattan, graphic t-shirts, graphic tees, urban wear, urbanwear

R.A.G Clothing opened its doors in NY in 1959 and has since expanded its number of stores to 5 locations across Manhattan. My partner came across RAG Clothing on a recent trip and was surprised (and relieved) to find their inimitable range of stylish designer t-shirts and urban wear are available online. They offer a great line in graphic art shirts although I’d say their men’s tees outclass the women’s by miles. There’s also a small selection of I Love New York tees for those of you who can’t quite afford a weekend fix of NY right now, though again they aren’t quite on the same level as their graphic t-shirts. read more