(Not) Ironic T-shirts
- Posted by: GOOD
- on February 3, 2008 at 8:18 pm
The humble T-shirt has seen its cultural status elevated in recent decades, from the backs of video-game-playing layabouts to the rail-thin frames of hipster royalty. Bearing the imprimatur of the creative class has allowed a further development: T-shirts that make a difference.
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1. Project M$425; buyameter.org
The high price of this T-shirt goes toward the cost of a water meter—the first step for home water service for poor, rural Alabamians. |
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2. Because
$28; becauseclothing.com These special-edition shirts depict heroic people in history—From Gandhi to the “unknown rebel” in Tiananmen Square. A percentage of sales is donated to nonprofits. |
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3. Re-Shirt
Reinventing the idea of the worn-in T-shirt, re-shirt collects tees with special memories (a shirt worn while making out with a hottie), cleans them, and sells them with an identifying serial number. |
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4. StatAttak
$25; statattak.com Beautiful infographics reveal compelling statistics about Africa. Twenty percent of sales go toward building an orphanage in Mozambique. |
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5. The Quiet Life
$25; thequietlife.com A standard-bearer for ironic T-shirt companies, its new Artist Donation Series gives 100 percent of its proceeds to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. |
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6. Part of It
$28; partofit.org Artists submit designs inspired by their favorite causes; proceeds go to the cause each shirt represents. |
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7. Rosa Loves
$25; rosaloves.com Through graphics on the front and a story printed inside, T-shirts are sold to raise money for a particular cause. When that goal is reached, the T-shirt design is retired. |
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8. Social AtelierFrom $88; socialatelier.com
With bold social messages displayed in bold type, a portion of the company’s proceeds goes to buy solar ovens for women in refugee camps in Darfur. |
DISCUSSION: 11 Comments
Although all these t-shirts serve a great cause, I believe you happen to miss one important company.
+E (Positive Energy, shoppositiveenergy.com)
This company and its founders are dedicated to bringing awareness to environmental, social and political concerns that affect us all.
Their 100% organic cotton t-shirts have one word on the front and a corresponding message on the back i.e;
HOT on the front with a message about global warming on the back.
10% of their profits are donated to these charities, http://www.heifer.org, http://www.pedaids.org, http://www.nature.org.
you also seem to be missing a very cool t-shirt company called Spraygraphic apparel. (www.spraygraphic.com)
A percentage of their profits go towards a few non profits and each t-shirt has a story attached to it.
I’d put my vote in for Katherine Hamnett who introduced the slogan tee in the 80’s to raise awareness for various causes. She not only supports organic farming and eco-friendly production, but also fair trade practices.
http://www.katharinehamnett.com/
T-shirts and art sales help rebuild after storm see [url=http://www.cafepress.com/figstreetstudio ttp://www.cafepress.com/figstreetstudio[/url]
These are all great examples, but let me add one to the list: Karmathreads http://www.karmathreads.com. This t-shirt company provides positive messaging on its super soft vintage-style t-shirts and gives back to charities that nurture and support teens in the U.S. What could be better than spreading good karma and donating to a good cause? Look good, do good! KarmaThreads
While trendy and chic and maybe even clever these t’s aren’t the solution. Many of these cause marketing efforts only serve to create an elitist self serving customer who gets to feel good about themselves and wear a badge of honour. Invariably the focus is drawn to the purchase (as in this article or the RED campaign) rather than the issue.
If you support the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation send them $25 and don’t buy more stuff. If you believe in the need for HIV/Aids research then don’t spend $400 at the Gap or Apple Store – send $400 to a reputable charity and become involved with the work.
While I agree that shopping isn’t the solution, people shop. From the perspective of a person trying to promote healthy change in the world, it makes sense to increase awareness and promote positive change by infiltrating a favorite American pastime such as shopping. Perhaps the people that become “involved” (even if it is by merely buying a T-shirt whose proceeds go to support a cause) would not have become involved otherwise. So, I agree that shopping is NOT the answer, but perhaps these T-shirt companies are helping to spread awareness of social and environmental issues to the masses of people who might not have had the impetus to give a damn otherwise.
Don’t forget about NAU! Since their ads are all over this zine, I’ll let ya’ll check them out for yourselves.
I agree that some campaigns such as the Red campaign can create an elitist culture of badge-wearing, but I do not believe that this is the issue here. We all need clothing, so if you happen to be out of t-shirts, and need a new one, why not buy it from someone who supports a good cause? Why not donate $25 to your favorite charity and buy a shirt that donates to charity? The flip-side of the argument is that if everyone donates, it allows companies to never have to be socially conscious. There is a market for socially conscious retail, and I think it should be supported. If not, we all donate directly to the charities, then GAP or whoever else never has a reason to be thinking beyond their profit margin.
http://www.heavytees.com — Heavy Rotation
Great artistic tees that are completely different. They are coming out with a new give-back line called Tree Shirts to help fight global warming. I don’t think they’ll be available for 2 weeks, but definitely check them out, they never disappoint.
good collection of all labels,with a good cause