I don't really give a fuck what Mike says. Taking a white shirt and throwing the HT Logo on top of a faded BAPE logo does not make this fucking thing worth $115.
This makes him look like such a douche. "LOL at you kids who don't want to/can't spend over $100 on a t-shirt. do u even BAPE????" And then he says the shirt is "worth every penny." Isn't he...profitting off the shirt? "As someone who is making money off of this shirt, I can guarantee you it is worth it." You don't say. The major theme of the 15th anniversary of Hybrid Theory is hip designer labels and expensive clothing. Let's all let that sink in for a moment.
This doesn't help at all. Lol! Mike, don't be silly, man. This certainly isn't making him look good. So not all shirts are $100+? Thank Geebus for $99!
It's supposed to look cool, that you are allowed to wear a trademark. It's like all those brand wear, which only has the brand logo on it. People paying more for advertising on their bodies. Damn capitalism. THIS! Pricy, pricy, for sure. -- I hope they will actually bring out some "refreshed" HT-designs, not only such brand-highlighting stuff. It's supposed to celebrate HT, not the brands. I hope.
The fuck? Well, this looks very bad. The price makes it even worse, and Mike's comment doesn't help either.
Usually T-shirts that cost that much are VERY high quality. When I used to buy Hilfiger and Nautica shirts back in the day (early 2000's) they would run me about $30 each but would last me years even with almost daily wear.
Assuming he's right in saying that they won't all be $100+, why the hell would they release a $100+ t-shirt as the first one? Surely some of them have to be better value for money? That money for a jacket I could understand. For a t-shirt though? Unless of course the only ones less than 100 dollars are baseball caps.
Yeah. Sorry to whomever designed this, but this is absolute crap. The band shirts from over a decade ago, with less superior versions of Photoshop/Illustrator outclass this in every way. Seriously, who thought this was good?
Man even fanmade shirts are much better than this And much cheaper too. I am a little bit disappointed in the band thought.
To be fair though I've never really flipped over BAPE's stuff. When they did that collab with LP a little while back where they had the members of LP as cartoon characters on a shirt, even then I was like "meh". I guess their stuff is an acquired taste. I just don't think it's visually worth what they ask for it. Both things I've seen are stuff we could recreate here and charge for less in the LPA shop. Now Ve'cel on the other hand...that stuff was amazing. High quality, incredible designs and lasted for years. It's a shame that (per Chester) that brand is permanently dead and stands no real chance of ever coming back.
While this t-shirt design and price is disappointing to say the least, I do not think Mike intended for his message to be taken this way. I read the Tweet again from the link and I found nothing "douchey" about Mike's tone, though it can be hard at times to read someone's tone/expression through text-based messages. He seemed to just be trying to reassure those who were already having doubts about this new line-up of celebratory apparel. What's most puzzling is that the design is so simple and straightforward yet Mike more than likely had a major hand in this design. We've seen the amazing artwork that man can put out, art that he can stand behind with confidence.
100% this I usually like all of LP's stuff from a graphic design standpoint, this, nah. Not to mention the fact that this is $100+, if I would want something at that price, it needs to be more impressive than this...
Everything since the release of GAST last year has been a disappointment for me (I'm not even talking about the music). All that attitude they got for the era was shit, especially Mike. Lack of promotion, horrible setlists... but seriously, this is horrible. And that comment by Mike... wow, I used to admire this guy... not anymore.
There's not really anything wrong with the idea, IMO. Joining forces with respected brands, creating "forward-thinking" new art out of what could be a timeless aesthetic (again, at least less dated than the music) and giving the fans products that are fresh -- it all sounds really good. When it comes to the songs, the band have really done about all that they can so, now, they're celebrating "Hybrid Theory" from a different angle.
In their defense, BAPE is a freaking expensive brand to begin with. Just go to their website and any tee would be easily over $100. Now, while this is a shitty design to begin with, the idea of this collab, IMO, is really like what Chester did with Porsche Design. Yeah, it's a T-Shirt, and yeah it freaking costs you 109 bucks.... Wait, actually, now that I think about it. I would rank Porsche Design a galaxy over BAPE, and that Tee is still not more expensive than this one. Oh well.
Does Mike even know how much $115 really is? I mean...I could pay my TV/Internet bill or I could buy this T-shirt... He laughed about the fans saying the shirt was too expensive and defended it by saying BAPE usually costs more. I don't think laughing about it is a very respectful way to respond to the criticism. Mike's not a bad guy and I, too, doubt he meant to come across that way but it's not a good look.