Image courtesy of VFILES
Wearing the T-shirt of your favourite band has long been a symbol of fandom. It’s a badge of loyalty that proves you didn’t just buy the album; you went to the show and that heavy cotton tee exists to prove it. On the flip side, band shirts also have a history of appropriation in fashion. Can anyone truly be sure that street style blogger knows who Iron Maiden really is? This can lead to lengthy debates between music devotees and fashion followers. Is the band tee just another well-designed item of clothing that anyone can wear, or is it something more sacred?
Regardless of your opinion towards the matter, there’s no arguing that musicians have recently stepped up their merch-making game. This year has witnessed an influx in trendsetting tour tees, resulting in more and more support for proponents of the band-tees-as-trend-piece campaign. Here are the four artists – and one magazine – proving that maybe it is okay to skip the show and buy the tee instead.
Kanye West, Saint Pablo Tour
The first musician to capitalise on this recent wave of fashion-forward tour merch, Kanye released a series of long sleeve T-shirts in a collab with Cali Thornhill DeWitt, featuring the large-print gothic font scrawled across the back. Always the trendsetter (and egomaniac), Yeezy made it socially acceptable for artists to wear their own tees and Justin Bieber quickly jumped on the bandwagon.
Beyonce, Formation Tour
Bey-hive was all smiles when their queen released a 90s-style line for her “Formation” world tour. A series of crew neck long sleeves feature the flawless songstress along with lyrics from her critically acclaimed album “Lemonade”.
Justin Bieber, Purpose Tour
When Justin Bieber announced he’d be collaborating with VFiles to design a line promoting his “Purpose” tour, the fashion industry found itself with a major case of Bieber fever. The resulting garments have since been photographed on models and street style bloggers alike during this month’s round of fashion weeks.
Photography by Dennis Leupold, image courtesy of Vogue
Zayn Malik, Mind of Mine Tour
Earlier this week Vogue revealed ex-boybander Zayn Malik’s 23-piece collection for his upcoming “Mind of Mine” tour. With imagery that is reminiscent of Fear of God‘s heavy-metal influenced designs, Malik stands confidently by his creations, stating: “Everything was created with the idea that this is something I would want to wear.”
Sade, Love Deluxe Tour
Even though this very cool Sade tee doesn’t promote an active tour, that does not mean this 032C release is any less worthy of a mention. Proving that is the one and only Yeezy himself, who’s been spotted sporting one. Unfortunately their website is completely sold out of this particular tee, but they’ve recently restocked on other styles.