Did Don Newman know what he had done?
Did he realize that his invention would alter the course of history? How could he have guessed, back in 1972, that his Newman Roller Screen would do more than provide screen printers with the consistent tension needed to efficiently print graphics onto textiles—that it would prove the vehicle for expression worldwide? All hail the screen-printed T-shirt! Well, the cute ones, anyway, with a fashionable fit, that coordinate with your designer denim and say something amusing, novel or just out-and-out salacious.
For scandalous tees that take intelligent aim at culture, look no further than Jon Solo and Impropaganda. Born of the ever wickeder and wilder San Francisco club scene, Impropagana is Solo's farcical foray into our various subcultures gone pop. From his faux hipster tabloids that warn local personalities and wannabes of the dark side of celebrity to his pink paratrooper party-girl paparatzos that promise your perfectly poised pose won't go to waste, Solo's got "the scene" in his sights.
His Improperazzi line takes on the world with tongue-in-cheek slogans like "Rock is dead and sucks blood." But if that doesn't embody your international pop-punk sensibility, maybe a spoof of Japan's rising sun as a holographic disco ball surrounded with those familiar red rays is more your style.
Or be outrageous and inflammatory in his red-white-and-blow design: Old Glory as a snuff kit cut in six lines of white atop a red mirror, the field of blue no longer stars but a vintage razor blade.
And Solo doesn't just go global with the guffaws. A Las Vegas native already tied into the foundling hipster scene after a decade-long detour to Frisco, Solo's Pop Vegas line pokes fun at Vegas—with our mayor's blessing. His centennial button collection, which included gems such as "When I grow up I want to drink gin like the mayor," had Goodman giggling. A testament to Solo's Vegas street cred, such buttons as "I survived the PEPCON blast" and "Missing: Wayne Newton's mustache" are a wink and nod to longtime locals.
For a taste of Impropaganda's get-their-goat glamour, go for the "You look hotter on Myspace" tee and stop by PURE's Myspace-sponsored party this Friday, January 27. Check out
www.improperazzi.net or
www.popvegas.biz.
Jennifer Henry's got the goods on what to get & where. E-mail her at
[email protected].