A new exhibition is coming to The Civic in South Yorkshire this June. Collating for the first time some of the most recognisable and wearable designs of the last century, T-Shirt: Cult | Culture | Subversion provides a unique insight into the historical and cultural influence of the most ubiquitous, affordable and popular garment of the last 100 years.
Since its earliest incarnation at the start of the 20th century, the T-shirt has served as a means to broadcast social, musical and political passions, most recently becoming a creative tool for expressing innovative design. T-Shirt: Cult - Culture - Subversion explores each of these embodiments of this everyday item, featuring significant pieces from the archives of artists, designers and collectors.
Spanning over 50 years and featuring over 100 rare and ground-breaking examples, the exhibition includes some of the most valuable examples in the world. Highlights include rare surviving pieces, hand-customised by Vivienne Westwood in the 1970s, era-defining designs from the archives of Katharine Hamnett and Pam Hogg, and contemporary re-imaginings from Moschino, Vetements and Henry Holland.
Today the T-shirt continues to be recreated with the advent of each new technology and political message, remaining an advert for social change, a canvas for artistic expression and a defining element of costume for almost every trend and subculture imaginable. T-shirt: Cult – Culture – Subversion is curated to inspire dialogue, to encourage new ways of seeing and to empower us to reinterpret the messages of popular culture, all via this most diverse, enduring and crowd pleasing garment.
T-shirt: Cult – Culture – Subversion, 23 June 2018 - 22 September 2018
The Civic, Hanson Street, Barnsley, S70 2HZ
You can also see this exhibition in London's Fashion and Textiles Museum until 6 May 2018.
You can also read an exclusive review of this exhibition in the upcoming issue of Selvedge.