T-shirt Party is this sort of mysterious company/art project in London that releases a new shirt design every week. It's a yearlong project, so they're shooting for 52 new shirts in 52 weeks. Unlike most of the people behind T-shirt labels, T-shirt Party's frontman is shy and eager to remain anonymous. He says the shirts are designed for Londoners and are custom tailored to their sense of style. Each shirt is also released with a video to set the mood for the design and add more of a "party vibe" to the whole thing.
Vice: Break down the idea behind T-shirt Party for us.
T-shirt Party Guy: There are 52 weeks in the year, so there will be 52 T-shirts and 52 videos. I call it a year-long salute to the white T-shirt, the ultimate in people's apparel and a very humble style icon. It's about reclaiming the white tee from so-called streetwear brands and piss-takers who substitute good ideas and design for branding and logos, then charge you £30 plus for the privilege of owning one. I also wanted to do something that had a UK vibe to it too, that referenced a UK view on style history, not just Americana. T-shirts are also a really nice way to express and communicate ideas in a direct way. T-shirt Party's tag line is: "T-shirt party--setting T-shirts free, for the people, every week."That's a catchy one. Why did you start doing this?
For all the reasons listed already, as well as the need to make life pay without getting a shitty retail job. Everyone talks about the T-shirt market being a saturated one, and it is, but where others might be put off by that, I saw an opportunity to do something original.Do you do it alone?
I get loads of e-mails now with people submitting images and wanting to be a part of the project. It's nice that people want to be involved. Four of the designs weren't mine. DDF was first and he did the "Too Good For Me T-shirt" with Sade on it. Ferry Guow did "Made of Stone" and Studio Downturn did "This Is The Waan." I don't really give a brief, I just let the guest designers represent themselves. They all know the design limitations and style T-shirt Party has, so they just work their vibe into it. "Delicate Flower" was a submission by William Wright and Oscar Godfrey. It's not an exclusive club for a particular clique of people. I'm happy when anyone submits work or invests time, because they are down with the concept.
Why is your anonymity important?
Anonymity was important for a few reasons. The first is that I'm naturally shy and the second is that I wanted people to judge it for what it was, without the pressure of knowing their friend or acquaintance did it. Also, with streetwear in particular, there's always some weird ego-driven need for a brand to have a front guy. I just thought that was dumb and wanted people to focus on the output rather than the creator.Would you describe the T-shirts' tone as London-centric?
They have a definite London feel to them. I live in and love this city and can't really remember a London brand in recent memory that looks like it's proud to be from here. So I wanted to rep the city right. Too many people seem to take all their cues from America. London has a rich style history, which, hopefully, I'm now contributing to.Style-wise, are there any other brands that inspire the direction you have taken?
Cross Colors is probably the most significant that I can think of. A brand with a message that looked good without being preachy. BOY was also pretty inspirational. Stussy are still doing good things, but the rest are pretty much waste. A big inspiration is tourist T-shirts or novelty ones like "If You See Da Police, Warn A Brother." I'd rather be stocked in the sort of West End tourist shops than in some boutique.How do the videos come into it?
Attaching content to product releases isn't anything new. Brands come out with virals every time they drop a collection. I just scaled it down. I think these videos are important because they get across the sentiment or idea behind the individual T-shirts. It puts each design into context and lets people know where T-shirty party is coming from. It's also a lot of fun.For the Boroughs T-shirt you used the "It's a London Thing," video by Scott Garcia, setting the context of the design, and also giving a nod to the styles in the video--Air Max 95s, gold chains—all that garage styling.
Yeah, I used the "It's a London Thing" video because UK garage was resolutely British, but also the vibe—the Chipie trainers and Notting Hill Carnival are very London. I like the video's slogan: "Landmarks are for tourists and boroughs are for Londoners." Sticking a picture of Big Ben on a T-shirt isn't for me. What I find beautiful is London's 32 boroughs, which you only really know about if you're a Londoner. Just having a T-shirt with 32 borough council logos on it would be kind of weird by itself, although if that did exist I'd still want it.When will the project stop?
The project will be completed at 52 weeks, 52 t-shirts, and 52 videos.BRUNO BAILEY
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T-shirt Party Guy: There are 52 weeks in the year, so there will be 52 T-shirts and 52 videos. I call it a year-long salute to the white T-shirt, the ultimate in people's apparel and a very humble style icon. It's about reclaiming the white tee from so-called streetwear brands and piss-takers who substitute good ideas and design for branding and logos, then charge you £30 plus for the privilege of owning one. I also wanted to do something that had a UK vibe to it too, that referenced a UK view on style history, not just Americana. T-shirts are also a really nice way to express and communicate ideas in a direct way. T-shirt Party's tag line is: "T-shirt party--setting T-shirts free, for the people, every week."That's a catchy one. Why did you start doing this?
For all the reasons listed already, as well as the need to make life pay without getting a shitty retail job. Everyone talks about the T-shirt market being a saturated one, and it is, but where others might be put off by that, I saw an opportunity to do something original.Do you do it alone?
I get loads of e-mails now with people submitting images and wanting to be a part of the project. It's nice that people want to be involved. Four of the designs weren't mine. DDF was first and he did the "Too Good For Me T-shirt" with Sade on it. Ferry Guow did "Made of Stone" and Studio Downturn did "This Is The Waan." I don't really give a brief, I just let the guest designers represent themselves. They all know the design limitations and style T-shirt Party has, so they just work their vibe into it. "Delicate Flower" was a submission by William Wright and Oscar Godfrey. It's not an exclusive club for a particular clique of people. I'm happy when anyone submits work or invests time, because they are down with the concept.
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Anonymity was important for a few reasons. The first is that I'm naturally shy and the second is that I wanted people to judge it for what it was, without the pressure of knowing their friend or acquaintance did it. Also, with streetwear in particular, there's always some weird ego-driven need for a brand to have a front guy. I just thought that was dumb and wanted people to focus on the output rather than the creator.Would you describe the T-shirts' tone as London-centric?
They have a definite London feel to them. I live in and love this city and can't really remember a London brand in recent memory that looks like it's proud to be from here. So I wanted to rep the city right. Too many people seem to take all their cues from America. London has a rich style history, which, hopefully, I'm now contributing to.Style-wise, are there any other brands that inspire the direction you have taken?
Cross Colors is probably the most significant that I can think of. A brand with a message that looked good without being preachy. BOY was also pretty inspirational. Stussy are still doing good things, but the rest are pretty much waste. A big inspiration is tourist T-shirts or novelty ones like "If You See Da Police, Warn A Brother." I'd rather be stocked in the sort of West End tourist shops than in some boutique.How do the videos come into it?
Attaching content to product releases isn't anything new. Brands come out with virals every time they drop a collection. I just scaled it down. I think these videos are important because they get across the sentiment or idea behind the individual T-shirts. It puts each design into context and lets people know where T-shirty party is coming from. It's also a lot of fun.For the Boroughs T-shirt you used the "It's a London Thing," video by Scott Garcia, setting the context of the design, and also giving a nod to the styles in the video--Air Max 95s, gold chains—all that garage styling.
Yeah, I used the "It's a London Thing" video because UK garage was resolutely British, but also the vibe—the Chipie trainers and Notting Hill Carnival are very London. I like the video's slogan: "Landmarks are for tourists and boroughs are for Londoners." Sticking a picture of Big Ben on a T-shirt isn't for me. What I find beautiful is London's 32 boroughs, which you only really know about if you're a Londoner. Just having a T-shirt with 32 borough council logos on it would be kind of weird by itself, although if that did exist I'd still want it.When will the project stop?
The project will be completed at 52 weeks, 52 t-shirts, and 52 videos.BRUNO BAILEY
