Ichiban is Japanese for 'number one' or 'best' and this fresh London
label seems to be living up to the name. Their output is simple as they
are just producing tees and crews at the moment but it's the glimpses of
genius they put into their print designs that has proved them to be
label to watch. Most of the prints are one tone, bold and really strong.
A prime example is the Ichiban Old School 3 print which they have
repeated in this seasons collection due to popular demand. With it's
vector Tape-head character (which is very reminiscent of Designer
Republics and 123 Klans artwork) and statement 'Don't Make Me Get Old
School' this design is an absolute banger. We've got it on black and
grey crews and on black and white tees and I think it's going to be as
popular this season as it was in the last...
Written across the tape is the phrase
'for those that know'. This seems to be a tag line of Ichiban and crops
up in a lot of their prints. Here's the old school tee. Looks well
strong against the black...
Humour and wit seem to be a major part of the Ichiban design ethos. The
Old School print is a good example as well as this 'Rep' tee. An obvious
copy of the Marlboro packet and logo with a wicked twist on the
oversized government warnings. Again with the 'for those that know' as
well...
A really clever use of branding that has been burnt onto the colective
conscience to put across an Ichiban message. They do it again with this
bad 'Get Money' print. The Monopoly man holding a bag of cash and a
tommy gun. A winner.
It comes as a tee as well. He looks so pleased with himself with his tache and bow legs. Gangster...
A similar but different character is this satisfied fat-cat type,
leaning back at his desk enjoying his wealth and prosperity with a fat
cigar, safe in the knowledge that he's a 'Bonafide Hustler'. Bad. Note
the FTTK (For Those That Know again) written on a sheet on his desk.
He also comes on a tee in all his pinstriped pomposity...
FTTK appears again as a speech bubble in this 'Scream' print. Clearly
influenced by the Pop Art hero Roy Lichtenstein and his use of comic
book graphics to produce impressive large images this Scream is
definitely an eye catcher...
I wonder wahat's freaked her so much?! She looks in the same state on the tee...
One of the few designs in this bunch which doesn't feature the 'For
Those That Know' tag line and has a much darker message than the rest is
this 'Art of War' print. With a grenade/skull as the main graphic and
plain font this print is much more serious and maybe has something to
say about the state of the world. Who knows...it works on a tee though.
Really like the size of the print...
Work as white on black too, as on this crewneck...
Another one with a darker violent theme is this 'Piece' tee. The peace
sign made up of guns or 'pieces' is saying something pretty dark. I'm
not in a position to say what that message so I'll leave it up to you...
That's all folks. Check out the other colourways of these prints in our Ichiban section.
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