The tees were a huge success, and this ushered in the graphic t-shirt as a classic trend. The company Tropix Togs acquired the rights to print Disney characters such as Mickey Mouse onto shirts- the first instance of licensing for shirts. People began to realize the marketing potential the invention of printing on tees brought about. The ink most widely used for screen printing called Plastisol was invented giving designers more freedom in creating graphics. Marlon Brando popularized the t-shirt after wearing one in the film A Streetcar Named Desire. The popularity of the graphic tee skyrocketed at the start of the 1950’s.
Life magazine even published a spread and cover shot featuring a model sporting an army tee.
Veterans continued to wear their shirts even after transitioning into civilian life, and the t-shirt, graphic or otherwise, became something of a sex symbol and a fashion statement. During WWII, members of the military were issued t-shirts sporting the names of their branches or training programs. The next iteration of the graphic tee was, like many fashion trends, born from the military. In essence, the Emerald City was the first to catch on to the functionality and marketing potential of graphic t-shirts. In the famed 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, the workers who fix up the scarecrow are all sporting bright green tees with the word “OZ,” splashed across the front in bold white letters. While it’s difficult to pinpoint exactly when people started to print on t-shirts, the graphic tee’s first foray into the mainstream media is easy to spot. (This was of course before the days of brands such as Victoria’s Secret PINK and their bold print designs for underwear.) This changed of course, once shirt manufacturers began to catch on to the power of printed graphics. When the t-shirt first came about, it was considered to be an undergarment, and as a result, there was not much need to print any kind of interesting design onto it. The graphic t-shirt has not been around for very long, but it has made a significant and lasting impression on the fashion world. The graphic tee is in the middle of a fashion renaissance, and there is a style for just about everyone. While the graphic tee used to have very casual, almost childish connotations, the graphic tee of today is much more upscale- it can be worn for a night out with a skirt and heels, or to work paired with a blazer. The types of t-shirt graphics we see trending on the runway are much more varied: feminist messages, silly slogans, images created by contemporary artists, etc. While we still see band shirts and logos, there are so many more options.
Lately, it seems that graphic tees are more popular than ever.
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