Drawn-on clothing can be a record of your personal connections or simply an expression of what you liked at the time the piece was made. In the early 1900s, Indiana college students created sketched-on corduroys known as senior cords to celebrate their imminent graduation, while ’90s kids will remember signed tees that served as an addendum to the yearbook. A crop of new designers are reviving the tradition for all occasions, mixing classic postwar American motifs and contemporary pop imagery. The Richmond, Va.-based artist James Rich started drawing on clothing in 2019 after he graduated from college and lost access to screen-printing equipment. The first few pieces were for himself but, after he shared them on Instagram, he began receiving commission requests from fellow artists and strangers. Rich, who creates under the name Bird Like Dog, finds inspiration in the senior cords tradition, Pennsylvania Dutch history, quilt patterns, folk art and early cartoon icons like Betty Boop and Felix the Cat when he adorns T-shirts, sweatshirts and jeans. In Los Angeles, the designer Kit Yip also uses postwar American animations such as Wile E. Coyote riding a rocket or Snoopy on the Red Baron to create pieces — typically vintage canvas military bags — that he sells through Instagram and at shops like Two Face in the Japanese city of Fukuoka. Nick Williams and Phil Ayers, the duo behind the New York-based Small Talk Studio, started their business in 2021. Since then, they’ve created custom items while also printing small-run orders for stockists around the world like Ssense, Colbo, Up There and Domicile. Williams and Ayers work closely with their custom-order clients, incorporating distinct references and also supplying flash sheets — a small selection of ready-made designs — to create embellished trucker jackets and heavyweight cotton pants.
Fashion Doesn’t Get More Personal Than Drawn-On Clothes
Remember signed tees at graduation? A bunch of artists are reviving the tradition.
Left: a T-shirt by James Rich, featuring classic American brand logos and icons. Right: baby overalls by Small Talk Studio, decorated with typographical motifs and children’s book characters like Lowly Worm by Richard Scarry. Photography courtesy of James / Small Talk Studio. 