PHOTOT BY SHANE CONNOLLY
When I first heard of T-shirt party it was merely an invite on facebook. Till this day I’m still not sure why I added them but I’m glad I did. Since then I did a little feature on them without knowing much more than they told. So I contacted the creator Stan Still and initially he wasn’t really up for giving an interview. After a few weeks of correspondence Still wrote me a message saying he was up for it. Through back and forth emails I am more of a fan than before and I’m pretty confident T-shirt party is going to be setting white t-shirts free for a while to come.
Who are t-shirt party?
T-SHIRT CHAMPIONS
When did you start making tees?
we started 13 weeks ago
What is the premiss behind the concept?
T-SHIRT PARTY///SETTING T-SHIRTS FREE///FOR THE PEOPLE///EVERY WEEK

[vimeo 10879546]

Why did you choose to accompany every T-shirt launch with a video?

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWi0Mim2sCk&feature=player_embedded]

They re-inforce the concept behind each tee. It was just another way to communicate the idea. It’s fun too. T-shirts and Videos are two of my favorite things. Brands put videos together for new collections all the time, I guess i just scaled that down to releasing one with every tee. Becuase i’m not interested in building a brand and a concept for it like the competiton It means I have more time to make things.

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With everyone and their mums making t-shirts, what made you decide do this?

There’s a few reasons but firstly everyone and his mum have been doing it wrong – your man and his mum are shit. There’s also always room in any market, even a saturated one like t-shirts for fresh ideas. I chose t-shirts because I felt I could contribute something new to it. If that wasn’t the case I wouldn’t of bothered. There’s also something really special about the white t-shirt. It’s the peoples piece of apparel, a true style icon that has a universal quality to it that attracted me. It’s also a way to communicate that I understand.

I like street wear and all that but I always struggle to find new stuff I wanna buy, especially t-shirts. So part of the reason behind doing t-shirts was that I got to make ones I want to keep for myself. I also think a lot of people in the scene of whatever you wanna call it are total pisstakers. I dunno about you but £30 for a tee that’s got more brand than idea on it is not really doing it for me. Thats where the whole tagline comes in and kinda sums up the project. I’m reclaiming the white t-shirt from streetwear and whilst repping a UK aesthtics and culture that I don’t really see going on.

I suppose from a personal point of view shotting tee’s that I get to design and make videos about is more fun and satisfying than working some shitty retail job to pay for life.

How do you decide on collaborations for the Tees? Do you approach people or do they approach you?

It’s a mixture. Since day one people have been reaching out which is nice but I got a hit list too of people I’m into that I wanna work my way through. Anyone and I mean anyone, i don’t care who they are or aren’t mates with or how much or little work they’ve done. They should get in touch if they wanna take a shot.

Can you say what we should look out for during the rest of the year? (Like any more club nights? collaborations you’re excited about?)

Hold tight for my mum’s collab tee first and formeost. We’re also going to be doing a pop up shop in the next couple of months and probably some parties but nothings set in stone. Working on some interesting stuff with Sweet and Sound magazine who have supported us from the start, a few more collabs in the pipeline and a new t-shirt and video every week standard.

What’s the most interesting thing you’ve learnt/understood from this project so far?

Invest in yourself and go the the post office before 11.

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