T-shirts designed Henry Holland, Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren, Katharine Hamnett, Dior and Moschino are the focus of a new show at London's Fashion and Textile Museum.
Vivienne Westwood
'T-shirt: Cult -- Culture -- Subversion' looks at the evolution of the fashion item over the past 50 years and features designs from artists, collectors and designers.
Dennis Nothdruft, head of exhibitions at the Fashion and Textile Museum told WWD: "The earliest discussions were around a large private collection of Westwood T-shirts, and the exhibition grew from there to encompass a range of ideas. It poses questions around the T-shirt as opposed to presenting a history of this basic garment.
"I think the T-shirt has democratised ideas of what fashion could be. I think it now raises questions about sustainability and ethics, which many designers and companies are starting to address. Some, like Katharine Hamnett, were early adopters and pushed for change and others have yet to really engage, but the movement is there. It is a testament to the power of a very simple piece of clothing."
The exhibition - which first began as a collaboration between The Civic creative arts hub in Yorkshire, and the Fashion and Textile Museum - and will run until May 6.
It will examine the vast number of techniques used to create T-shirt designs, including embroidery, printing and silk-screen.
Westwood has a number of T-shirts on display, including her famous Cambridge Rapist T-shirt from 1977 with McLaren, along with Climate Revolution and Save the Arctic slogan tees.
The Rolling Stones, The Velvet Underground and The Ramones band shirts are also on display, while there is also a section devoted to how T-shirts have been used to help the LGBT+ community.
Tagged in Vivienne Westwood Henry Holland