Cool Hunting
Spring has sprung and summer is hot on its heels, and when I think summer I think t-shirts and when I think t-shirts nothing comes to mind quicker than those that are buttery soft and vintage-inspired, like those from our good buddies at Vintage Vantage. Choosing to do things right and develop their own t-shirt fabric from scratch, combining clever slogans and quirky graphics has made them a force to reckon with for close to eight years. We caught up with founder John to talk to him about their current setup and get a glimpse of what they are up to.
How long have you been keeping it fresh?
Since long before the beginning of time. Or at least since 1985, but vintage vantage has been around since the summer of 2001—almost eight years now, and somehow I've still got a huge crush on awesome t-shirts.
As well as your own designs, you have one of a kind vintage finds called the “top shelf.” Who is in charge of setting the pricing?
Depends who is doing the actual listing, and at this point we all have a pretty good idea what these things should be going for. The Top Shelf has actually undergone quite a transformation in the direction of affordability over the last few months. We cut all the prices in half, and new shirts are listed for much cheaper than they once were. We decided to be proactive about getting these awesome shirts to the people who want them, because a great vintage shirt that is worn and loved is better than a shirt in our vault any day.
What makes you more awesome than other vintage tee companies?
Our unbridled passion! No, seriously though, we love this shit. We know what it's like to try on a new shirt and dance a little jig in front of the mirror, and we try our damnedest to channel that enthusiasm into everything we do.
What's your motto for spring?
When life gives you lemons, buy something from vintagevantage.com.
Future plans?
Well, we've always got a lot of awesome new shirts coming out, lots in the next couple weeks. Also on the horizon are v-necks for men! And tank tops! And a retail storefront in San Francisco! And a bunch of other stuff we haven't thought of yet!
As a bonus to CH readers, type “Coolhunting” into the discount box at checkout and enjoy a great tee for 20% less.
|
previous entry Elizabeth Peyton: Portrait of an Artist |
next entry Damián Ortega: Materialista |
Absolutely the softest tees we've found outside of the aged threads at Salvation Army are coming from Ohio. The appropriately named outfit, Homage, pays tribute to sports teams and so much more with their clever graphics and nostalgic sentiment printed onto brand new, worn-out cotton tees. Homage began with a license to distribute Ohio State University gear, but with big aspirations and the desire to...
by Kyle SmallOver at The Imaginary Foundation, the mysterious "Director" and others have been experimenting with t-shirt styles for a while now and the Sublimation series is a new process that makes for super detailed imagery. Using dye-sublimation, the tees can be highly decorative and imaginative; talk about wearing art to its fullest extreme. And what really makes these shirts unique is the fabric:...
Steve MacDonald aka Steve Mac aka ramblinworker is one of my favorite artists, so I wasn't surprised to hear that the band Modest Mouse had asked to use a piece of his artwork for a t-shirt design. Steve asked his friend Matthew Davis, also an S.F.-based artist and skilled web designer, to join him in making shirts. Together the two created a top-selling Modest...
Offering a point of difference in the very overcrowded graphic tee market, Ivory Skies base all their shirts on rare ancient artwork. The London outfit prints the images on nicely fitting white tees, making for a line that co-founder and designer Carlo Salanitri describes as "a rare style representation of the mystical past blended with today’s indie street fashion." Making big inroads with the...
Paying homage to some of their favorite design icons and the summer season, Furni teamed up with soft goods company Bruxe to create a very limited color and pre-release run of Bruxe's "Chairs" tee. Exclusive to Montreal's upper ground boutique Off the Hook and online at Furni's webshop for $34, the tees come in white, lemon yellow or heather grey on good quality, well...
What's in the Australian water that keeps producing all these t-shirt brands? Junior Massive is the latest, a newly launched boutique label making limited edition tees using only Australian cotton. It's street meets indie; design meets durability; edgy fashion meets…well, edgy fashion. We like it already....
Riva Yachts
Bike Rides Exhibition
Academy of Art Collection Fashion Week Spring 2010
Cool Hunting Video Presents: Rye Rye
London Design Guide 2010
Olaf Breuning: Color Studies
Bernhard Willhelm: Keep It Unreal Collection
Anniel Sport Shoes and Bags
Babelgum Metropolis Art Prize 2009
