To some, the white T-shirt is perhaps the least inspiring of wardrobe basics. But according to Ritchie Chan, director of the events planners Triple-Major Co., Ltd., it is quite the opposite.
"I like making things and white T-shirts naturally came to mind — they are the simplest cotton item I can think of," said the former fashion journalist, who sees the white T-shirt as a blank canvas ready for all manner of creative possibilities.
Project White T-shirt is Triple-Major Co., Ltd.'s first major venture, involving 31 designers from 15 countries. With each designer reworking the generic white T-shirt, it's a perfect fit for Chan's company motto "Reinventing Popular Culture." Having already exhibited its creations at Welcome Hunters and Space 15 Twenty Gallery, both in Los Angeles, Project White T-shirt is now making its Asia debut at Wut Berlin, in Tokyo's Harajuku district.
There were two motivations for starting the project Chan explained. First, to stimulate people to rethink fashion. Second, to support DAA, Designers Against AIDS, an organization founded by another former fashion journalist, Ninette Murk. The designers' finished pieces are currently being auctioned online, with bids starting from $200, and when bidding closes this fall, the profits will go to DAA.
Philanthropic benefits aside, though, Project White T-shirt has a much broader aim. "The focal point is to let designers express their ideas, dreams and philosophies on a noncommercial level," said Chan.
Every season, fashion designers are restricted by the fact that for clothing to be marketable, it has to be wearable. By making Project White T-shirt nonprofit and noncommercial, however, there is less pressure on designers, which Chan went on to explain allows for more artistic innovation.
Such artistic freedom is instantly visible in the Swedish brand DOKTOR DOKTOR's contribution — a white shirt made out of 2,000 marshmallows. The confection creation is so impractical that the design-brand duo Unni Hakansson and Andreas Andersson have described it as "too heavy to wear and ants love it, so you can't really use it." For DOKTOR DOKTOR, the T-shirt symbolizes "the price you pay for good taste."
Brett Westfall's Unholy Matrimony, an American fashion brand whose reputation for hand-dyed materials has led to a collaboration with Comme de Garcons, has also created something far-flung from its usual style. Having been buried in a garden for 185 days, Unholy Matrimony's shirt shows signs of decomposition, making the point that the earth is alive.
Project White T-shirt's emphasis on innovation and creativity attracted Yann Le Goec, a buyer and director of Wut Berlin boutique, the project's current home in Tokyo. Le Goec saw the event as the perfect opportunity to reinspire Tokyo's fashion scene.
"From the outside, the Tokyo street-fashion scene still appears to have a creative, unique and exciting image," said Le Goec. "But with so many fast-fashion mega-brands popping up in Tokyo, there have definitely been negative changes in recent years."
It's ironic, then, that Project White T-shirt is giving its proceeds to DAA, which in the past has collaborated with fast-fashion brand H&M to reach a wider audience. But then again, the project itself is making an ironic statement: It pumps creativity and innovation into one of mass-produced clothing's biggest sellers — the simple T-shirt.
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