By Zoe Mendelson, 19, reporting from Chicago on the coolest T-shirts in (and out of) town
I don't know when graphic T-shirts lost their charm. Maybe it was somewhere between "Jesus is my Homeboy" and "90% Angel." Honestly, it took me way too long to admit that a mass-produced T-shirt couldn't actually be clever. Eventually I did give them up, but the concession made me sad.
This is why I'm all about Novem Studios. A once graffiti crew turned art collective in Chicago, they print silk-screened graphic tees that are clever without the camp: quintessentially fresh. My favorite is this Team Spirits design. It's a totem pole made of each Chicago sports team's mascot—I mean, they even worked in the Chicago Sky and Fire.
Novem designs are so far from the jokes made too many times on shirts at Hot Topic. This is flavorful local history (Obama surely coming soon) and just graphic design at its best, with an originality that anyone can appreciate, outside of the 312 and 773 and even past 630 land. Their newest Ts are a collaboration with another Chicago-based design collective, Delicious Design, featuring large intricate prints of animal faces. Fierce, yo—and also available in poster form.
So maybe we didn't get the Olympics, but show a little love anyway. From the City of Big Shoulders to your shoulders everywhere: they're all available at www.novemshop.com.