The T-Shirt Issue Gets Back to (the Future of) Basics
Posted in: Uncategorized
The T-Shirt Issue is a Berlin-based interdisciplinary design collective that have de- and reconstructed the quintessential article of clothing, that which gives them their name and purpose. While we had a first glimpse at some of their experimental “non-basics” at Dutch Design Week, the T-Shirt Issue is also looking to launch a line of reimagined tees through a Kickstarter campaign.
The issue is twofold: firstly, “the T-shirt is one of the most personal pieces of clothing, yet with their current mass market treatment, they offer the wearer little individuality.” Second, and more importantly to the young Berliners, is that “no matter what cosmetic alterations you apply to the T, the shirt remains the same… a four piece pattern that has remained unchanged since it’s birth in the 19th century.”
Thus, the designers of TSI use 3D modeling software to explore the infinite variations of shapes (or cuts) of fabric that can be folded and sewn into a standard t-shirt.
After more than 100 years of uniform T-shirts, we have managed to break the code and have started to construct basic apparel from the core… T-Shirt patterns are placed and reconstructed in 3D space. Using basic geometry, an endless amount of unique patterns can be generated that create their own signature in the form of seam lines.
Unlike the seams on common shirts—restricted to the shoulders and sides—our seams run freely over the entire surface of the fabric and can be altered to any position and degree of complexity without losing the fit.
In other words, the T-Shirt Issue is suggesting that the locations of the seams of a T-shirt are largely incidental and that there is potential to “redefine the aesthetics of all things jersey.”
If the concept doesn’t seam particularly radical, it certainly makes for a different, more material approach to fashion—i.e., they’ve questioned the very matter of clothing design as a means of achieving a form that is literally anthropomorphic. The video is a fairly straightforward presentation of the concept:
Post a Comment