On the internet today, there are a lot of websites that only feature and review
t-shirts. But there are some who choose to dig deeper and look at the t-shirt
industry with a critical eye. HipHipUK is a part of the second group of
websites, or more accurately, a blog in this case.
HipHipUK is the brainchild of British blogger Adam Fletcher who is currently
based in Leipzig, Germany. He currently works as a creative director for the
apparel brand Spreadshirt.
The idea for his blog came from his dissertation on the t-shirt brand
Threadless and the role of virtual communities in supporting innovative product
development, thus the academic treatment of some of the topics discussed.
But being academic doesn’t mean it lacks that cool factor that makes a site
interesting. On the contrary, the blog is filled with interesting articles as
well as interviews of some of the big names in the industry. Sure, the template
is simple, but in this case, the content of each entry and interview rules the
other features that the blog has.
Speaking of features, HipHipUK has a cool one that makes it easier to go to
previous posts without clicking on the archive menu. On the blog’s main page,
just above the newest entries is a horizontal scroll bar that lets visitors
simply scroll to their desired archive page number. It is more convenient than
having to click through loads of monthly archive pages. But if you want to view
the archives by month instead, there’s a drop-down menu at the sidebar.
Alternatively, there’s a separate archives page that lets you dig deeper into
them.
The t-shirt industry is a very dynamic and creative one. Look into it deeper
and you find something more beautiful and valuable. www.hiphipuk.co.uk helps
you do just that.
Naive Clothing was formed in 2004 as an outlet for Joshua Martin and his friends to create something that they felt was needed in the fashion industry. After toying around for a couple of years and spending time on and off some tours Naive Clothing realized in the spring of 2006 that they needed to make their clothing about something greater.
In the spring of 2006 the idea of “our profit for their profit” was born into the brain of the company and reflected the entire staffs hearts. This idea is simple: “We sell shirts and give some of that money away. We aren’t anything greater than that.” Naive Clothing is a for profit company, but they are trying to give some of that away because the needs of the many are great.
In the Fall of 2006 Naive Clothing released their latest line with a Southern Direction to focus on their heritage and lead them towards a new design direction. The new shirts are all printed on American Apparel and each one tells a story. As with all Naive Clothing shirts the shirt is just half the product because the story and the images behind it are what make their shirts unique.
Heading into 2007 Naive Clothing is in the process of trying to expand their message through word of mouth advertising and truly start to open peoples eyes. With the slogan “Push the Heart” They are taking the web by storm.
BEAN DIP CLOTHING is a product of long days, and longer nights. Influenced by all aspects of life, people, and music, our philosophy is if anyone works hard and believes in what they are doing, success will soon follow.
“Mediocrity is self-inflicted, genius is self-bestowed.”
James Russell and Bill Smeltzer are Co-Owners of BEAN DIP Clothing, who design and hand screen print the main line. In addition, the Artist Connection allows up and coming artists to relay their work onto a different medium. The Artist Connection Family consists of Matt Collins, Danny Jones, Daryl Waller, and Jason Woodside.
Bean Dip started as a side project hand screen-printing limited run t-shirts and slapping stickers around town. We wanted to make clothing that focused more on the design aspect, not a name, the name was to be irrelevant or even misleading. Design of the tees have two aspects, one from a close view showing detail, and another for the overall look from afar.
Before we started Bean Dip, both of us were attending college; James working on graphic and web site design, and Bill learning the ropes of business and marketing. After graduating, the path laid out before us wasn\’t attractive, so we decided to pave our own road. Coincidentally, our backgrounds complemented each other and Bean Dip was born in early 2006.
Teees.com is a source of all short sleeved goodness including
- t-shirts
- polos
- hands-on reviews
- community features
- periodical newsletters
The site is maintained by a couple of norwegian creatives, and is aimed at delivering the best of the best for all short-sleeve and t-shirt lovers and buyers. Teees.com is regularly updated, and has a large base of loyal readers. The site has been up since late 2005, and one of the main features is the hands-on reviews, giving the readers first hand info on products in regards to quality and style.
Divine Clothing is a small, intimate clothing line from just outside of Philadelphia. We have been around since the summer of 2005 and are ran by one person, Bill Pyle, out of his bedroom. Everything from the design process to mailing the shirts is done from there.
Divine features many products ranging from t-shirts, polos, and hoodies, to handbags, buttons, and even stuffed plushies. All products are hand screen printed with love. We occasionally print one of a kind items that feature unique designs or are printed on specialty shirts not normally used.
All products are relatively cheap and come with free shipping and other free goodies. So if you\’re looking for more than the typical logo tee, check us out.
It’s the online store for the Toronto area Screenprinting studio, Popfuel. At the moment it consists of designs by Jeremy Wilson, the person who runs the studio, but it’s hoped that a few members come online in the new year.
The shirts vary in style from your basic indie estetic, to more hot rod styles, and are available in both men’s and women’s styles.
Not the prettiest site online but functional, with prices in Canadian dollars.
Monstar clothing has really cool designs there are urban and artsy but hip and upbeat. Very cool use of bright colors.
They have cool characters and they just aren’t one of those clothing companies that use there name in different fonts and call it a design. They actually do art.
Abuze LDN are unlike many other brands because they actually produce their clothing themselves.
They are heavily influenced by London graffiti and the hip hop culture in general and produce alot of custom made limited edition pieces. Their latest range includes a design by infamous London graffiti legend Zomby and also a limited edition run collaboration tee with UK hip hop artist Jehst. Check out their all over prints onto sweats and caps. This company is definitely going places and worth checking out.
Indigo Clothing is a UK-based brand that focuses on designing and manufacturing customized clothing and other products for their clients. Some of their services include screen printing, embroidery as well as promotional merchandise.
Although it considers itself as a small company, Indigo Clothing has a wide variety of clients. They range from big players like BBC and Kodak to smaller business clients who regularly order clothing in small quantities.
Indigo conducts almost all of its business online. From its real-time quotation system to ordering, interested businesses can do it at Indigo’s website. Doing this instead of keeping a shop helps them cut costs and maintain their excellent service. The materials they use are sourced directly from manufacturers thus keeping the prices low and reasonable.
The company’s website has a lot of great information that helps visitors find exactly what they are looking for. Things like the kind of work they do, their online catalogue, their portfolio, client list and the frequently-asked-questions (FAQs) can be easily found using the tabs just below the site’s banner.
Their informative website is complemented by their blog. Visitors can get the latest updates on the company and the people behind it with the help of this page. This is a very welcome feature on the site which makes it a dynamic one and the feeling that there are real people behind it, not a bunch of unnamed and faceless business people. There is also a link to the flickr page of the company’s founder, Alex Walker. This further adds a human dimension to what could have been just another website.
If you want to check out more of Indigo Clothing, check out their website at www.indigoclothing.com. Also check their blog at www.indigoclothing.com/blog for the latest news on Indigo and its team of very dedicated people.
Threadless is without a doubt one of the most well-known t-shirt brands today. It began in late 2000 by the two Jakes, Jake Nickell and Jacob DaHart after Jake Nickell won a t-shirt competition in London. What started out as a hobby has now become a massive success.
The way threadless works is that users submit their designs and other users can vote for them. The best designs then get the chance to be printed. The creator of the chosen design gets a cash prize along with a gift certificate so they can buy some of their own shirts. The designer’s name will also be mentioned on the site giving him/her proper credit.
They have a massive selection of tees on their site that are new, on sale and reprinted. Reprints are those shirts that get enough votes to get reprinted. However, only a few of tees are printed each time which makes them more exclusive.
Aside from the catalog, visitors can browse the t-shirts by size. From small to double-XL, visitors can find the design they like in a size that fits them. The categories are also divided among the kinds of tees. From guys shirts to hoodies and so on.
Visit the mother of all t-shirt stores at www.threadless.com.