I have a real burgeoning bad-taste obsession. Call it a south London thing. Bonnie Tyler cover versions, crap erotic thriller movies, fake Adidas t-shirts (I’d never wear the real thing!), trinket necklaces, garish streetwear, Britain’s Got Talent… it’s the flipside of the ‘me’ that admires the perfect minimalism of Raf Simons or Juun. J.
On the ‘bad taste’ side definitely comes these t-shirts. Do you remember the ludicrously-named I.C.R. vs. Deth Killers of Bushwick? That label that had an almost impossible amount of hype loaded onto it? But those were the days of ludicrously expensive hand-painted t-shirts, Zoltar the Magnificent and deconstructed Sergio Tacchini jumpers sold in that fondly remembered shop, Burro, in Covent Garden. Essentially the kind of shop the ‘early adopters’ wouldn’t be seen DEAD in today.
I.C.R.V.D.K.O.B, meanwhile, have reinvented themselves as perhaps the ultimate bad/good taste label, Deth Killers 2000. They’re bringing out the TEN SHADES OF AMAZING t-shirts below throughout the year, available from their site. Each one will drop across the months in limited batches of 2000 and has been produced by a sci-fi/fantasy artist based around the designer’s narratives about some kind of ‘nebulous’ apocalyptic event, where bike gangs fight over a ruined world or something. BASICALLY TIP-TOP, but rather confusing too as their long and convulted (again very retro) backstory talks up a fake PS3/DS game, sci fi novel, and lots of other slightly self-indulgent words.
Whatever. I’m a sucker for a detailed, amazing t-shirt that is basically timeless and will go with absolutely everything, such as these. They’re the best t-shirts I’ve seen forever, and I love how unfashionable (dare I say, EARLY NOUGHTIES) that all-over print idea is. Makes me long for those ridiculous hand-painted t-shirts all over again.
so bad its good, reminds me of those boys you’d see in thamesmead in the summer about 15 years ago, pastel shade polos, above the knee shorts and the reebok classic.
not quite on par with your t-shirts but probably a south london thing too.
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