Prada has teamed up with Rem Koolhaas again, this time adapting graphics created by his AMO think tank for Prada's Spring '07 runway show to $210 ironic tee-shirts.
No doubt they'll sell like hot-cakes, but are they really $182 more clever (or better looking) than what you might find at, say Urban Outfitters?
10 Comments
200+ bucks for a t-shirt!? they're effin' crazy.
this is a microcosm of what i despise about architecture.
It's not just architecture, any Prada item would cost as much.
Which of course doesn't make it worth it, especially when the T is a very basic shape, not anything interesting done to the form even.
They're not just t-shirts, they are "Obvious Classics" - which may or may not be a hair more humble than saying "Instant Design Icons!" - and "a tongue-in-cheek view of where our lifestyle choices may lead us in a not too distant, fully-globalized, interconnected future..." printed on cotton.
It's all how you frame it and how many people are willing to buy into it. I would bet their ideal audience is the handful of people who know better, but appreciate the joke and have enough cash to buy in. Most of them though, will be sold to people who don't really get it, but can and will buy it just because of the brand. Not only do I find that very cynical (but in step with OMA+Prada's attitude toward consumers,) I just don't think the designs are all that clever.
(Personally, I only wear t-shirts to keep pit marks off my Filius dress shirts, and the three packs at Target are just fine for that.)
I'm going to celebrate the Death of the Author and make my own.
used to be i'd want something because the company that marketed it did something which created desire. first on the to-do list for them was to make it look great. prada doesn't even seem to feel that's necessary anymore.
i guess i'm supposed to want it because it's prada? or because it's expensive?
certainly not because it looks great.
If you spend that kind of money on clothes, this is probably about as edgy/intelligent as it gets. And the ugliness is subjective.
OMA/AMO's role here is to make the Prada brand appear intelligent and critical. Todd Reisz from AMO actually says that achieving this for Prada was the major achievement of OMA/AMO outside architecture, so far, frivolous though it may sound. (This was in response to a question last week, talk at ETH)
Well, it's interesting that Theo thinks this is positive, it's good to hear a dissenting opinion to the dissenters..
But I certainly don't think these designs carry the kind of intelligence and style that I would even expect from either OMA or Prada.. in looking through them I had to do a double-take to make sure this wasn't a joke. They don't even look professional (photoshop phriday anyone?)
If there were a bigger experience these tied into - ala Year Zero - it would be more intriguing. The websites on some of the designs are parked right now. Maybe there's more to come. I couldn't imagine printing a website on a shirt and not having some sort of tie-in.
"i guess i'm supposed to want it because it's prada?"
did you really have to ask?
Iz, I love you.
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