styled by Ben Krautheim makeup by Hannah Silverman models: Katherine Johnson, Anna Minton, Shane Fabio, and Don Choi photographed by Maggie Smerdel
A TIMELINE OF THE TEE: the transformation of graphic t-shirts written by Maddie Clegg
I
f you’ve walked the streets of Oxford on a Saturday afternoon, chances are you’ve come across the sought-after, regenerated trend of graphic T-shirts. Whether you’re promoting a designer brand, displaying your cherished vintage band tee or simply recreating a look you saw on Instagram, the graphic tee has come a long way since its creation in the early 1940s. From military advertisements to runway couture, the graphic tee has had a prosperous life, and we’ve loved every decade.
8 | Winter 2018
1940s–EARLY 1960s The birth of the graphic T-shirt began in the early 1940s when Life Magazine used a picture of a young man wearing a graphic tee with an advertisement for the “Air Corps Gunnery School” for the cover photo. This was the first time a plain T-shirt had been curated for outerwear use instead of underwear. It was also the first time a T-shirt was used as a form of advertisement. The 1960s also welcomed the first big business to take advantage of the screen-printed graphics. The Walt Disney Company began to mass produce T-shirts with Mickey Mouse and his pals on them. This was only the beginning of the graphic tee revolution.
