Comments on: (Not) Ironic T-shirts

By: pallvi

pallvi — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 06:41:34 +0000

good collection of all labels,with a good cause

By: Irish60

Irish60 — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

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.

By: anth05

anth05 — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

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.

By: amanda

amanda — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

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/

By: Bi9ngoMan

Bi9ngoMan — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

T-shirts and art sales help rebuild after storm see [url=http://www.cafepress.com/figstreetstudio ttp://www.cafepress.com/figstreetstudio[/url]

By: ekeefe

ekeefe — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

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

By: optimisticbob

optimisticbob — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

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.

By: lizhealthy

lizhealthy — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

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.

By: lizhealthy

lizhealthy — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Don’t forget about NAU! Since their ads are all over this zine, I’ll let ya’ll check them out for yourselves.

By: Ehren

Ehren — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

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.