5 Ways To Wear The Graphic T-Shirt Trend
The humble T-shirt is one of the most underrated assets in your wardrobe. Once summer has passed it’s often hidden underneath warmer layers, so you’d be forgiven for paying less attention than you would to your statement outerwear, but it’s still there, ever-present.
With that in mind, it’s easier to keep things simple and plain, especially if you worry about garish graphics or the nonsensical logo trend making you look like your teenage self, or that you’re due a day of catching up with the laundry.
But unless you’re after a neat, minimalist look, there are plenty of ways to play with prints that’ll add a touch of flavour to your outfits. Graphic tees don’t have to be loud or overpowering – the simplicity of some can add another dimension to getups, softening smarter looks or bringing an added statement to simpler outfits.
The Rise Of The Graphic T-Shirt
In recent years, with streetwear trends infiltrating high fashion along with bootleg brands producing retro, satirical and one-of-a-kind designs, graphic prints have returned in a more accessible and desirable way.
Legacy fashion houses with iconic prints, logos or emblems like Kenzo, Gucci, Saint Laurent and Burberry have elevated things, placing their designs at the fore in recent collections, reclaiming the graphic T-shirt’s simple way of adding identity to a look.
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Stylist and brand consultant Sam Thompson agrees nostalgia is at the heart of the trend: “I love old band tees, so when a brand does a spin on one it reminds me of something I’d buy at a gig when I was younger. It’s a nod to a certain era – it’s nice to dig into the archives and reissue iconic logos”.
It’s interesting now how the trend has become self-referential too, with high-end designers altering their own logos to appear as fakes. Bootleg brands have always played around with high-fashion or established sports brand logos, but now, designers like Alessandro Michele at Gucci are flipping the script and “producing logos which mimic the bootleg pieces found in markets.” Fashion is a weird game.
