Description
Number (N)ine “I Love Gotham” T-Shirt. The one and only, legendary “I ❤ Gotham” T-Shirt that was originally released for Number (N)ine’s SS02 collection, where a dozen models came out wearing the T-Shirt along with distressed jeans and biker boots. A true icon in Japanese fashion.
Size: S-M
Measurements: Length 50cm / Shoulder Width 38cm / Width 40,5cm
Condition: Excellent
Country of manufacture: Japan
Material: 100% Cotton
Brand information:
A man with quite some experience in the Japanese fashion industry, and largely responsible for bringing cult attention to Japanese streetwear is Takahiro Miyashita THESOLOIST. You might have heard his name before, since he is currently directing a brand in his own name, called – uhm – TAKAHIROMIYASHITATheSoloist. Miyashita moved to the U.S at 16, but was soon kicked out of college for smoking weed. He was drawn to the stylized American life, which is often shown in his collections. He founded Number (N)ine in Ebisu, Tokyo in 1997, with the name derived from a chaotic song by The Beatles from The White Album titled Revolution 9. When Miyashita founded Number (N)ine, Tokyo was seeing a new fashion revolution. Jun Takashi had 5 years prior started Undercover – another big gun of Japanese fashion – and he was very inspired by Punk music. The new focus was youth culture. As opposed to the founding fathers of the Japanese Avant-Garde Rei Kawakubo and Yohji Yamamoto, the streetwear designers’ aesthetic mostly revolved around music (Miyashita drew inspiration from Kurt Cobain and Ozzy Osbourne). Jun Takashi confirmed this in an interview with T Magazine. Takahiro Miyashita and Jun Takashi have often collaborated and have been close friends since the 90s.
When looking at Number (N)ine’s collections, there is a sense of sorrow and darkness, both in the atmosphere of the shows, the visual campaigning and in the garments. I find this aspect of Japanese fashion in general to be quite interesting. We see it in Yohji Yamamoto’s nightmarish dark silhouettes, and here, where Takahiro Miyashita portrays the grunge and the punk.
Number (N)ine ceased to exist in 2009 with the collection “Last Songs”.
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