The slogan tee might be making a massive comeback right now, but Katharine Hamnett has always had a penchant for plastering what she wants to say across her chest.
The British designer’s most viral moment, taking place long before ‘going viral’ was even a thing, was the time in 1984 when she pulled up at 10 Downing Street wearing a top that read ‘58% Don’t Want Pershing’, in relation to the US’s deployment of Pershing missiles in Europe. Then-prime minister Margaret Thatcher didn’t initially notice, but when she clocked it she made a sound like a surprised chicken, according to Hamnett.
Since then, Hamnett has continued putting Letraset letter prints to cotton jersey tees in the four decades since, most recently taking aim at the British government and world leaders beyond with a collection designed to raise awareness of the genocide happening in Gaza, as well as vital funds for the Palestinian people suffering.
Lina Hadid was one of the first to pull one over her head, its message bluntly reading ‘Stop Killing Children’. Jeremy Corbyn, formerly leader of the Labour party and now forming his own independent party alongside Zarah Sultana, also slipped a version demanding ‘Welfare Not Warfare’ on. And now, musician and activist Annie Lennox joins the fold in the latest addition to the line-up: ‘Let Gaza Live’.
Dropped in collaboration with art initiative A/POLITICAL, all proceeds go to the Noor Gaza Orphan Care Program, which, since launching in 1983, has supported over 20,000 children in the region. Saying she was ‘thrilled’ to be working with Lennox on this release, Hamnett adds: “People must write to their elected representatives and demand that they support a permanent ceasefire, an end to all arms sales and military support if they will never vote for them again. Silence is complicity. If we don’t speak out about Gaza, we’ve chosen the side of oppression.”
Also dropping this week comes a vast swathe of merch designed in conjunction with the upcoming Together for Palestine gig, happening in London on September 17. With the likes of Jamie xx, Obongjayar, Pink Pantheress, Damon Albarn, Brian Eno, and Rina Sawayama all billed to perform, the accompanying edit of t-shirts is designed by some of fashion’s biggest names and longtime supporters of the Palestinian cause.
Simone Rocha has turned out a long-sleeve featuring a delicate flower, Bella Freud’s taps into the designer’s cut-and-paste, cartoony style, and Priya Ahluwalia’s features a striking illustration. Also among the edit is a tee created by Ayham Hassan, a Palestinian student who crowdfunded to get to Central Saint Martins and just graduated to critical acclaim.
Head here to get your hands on Hamnett and A/POLITICAL’s styles, and here for Together for Palestine merch (which Hamnett has also contributed to, actually).