Behind-The-Scenes: How We Made Our T-Shirts

We’ve been receiving questions on how we made our T-shirts for our latest project—a streetwear capsule collection with Helsinki-based apparels craftsmaker Its Steezy. Since it’s a long process that’ll take ages to explain, we figured a blogpost would be a better way for us to share the journey with you.

First off, there are tons of techniques available when it comes to shirt printing. Some of the commonly seen methods are Direct-to-film printing (DTF), Direct-to-garment printing (DTG), Dye sublimation (AKA All-Over Printing, or AOP for short) and of course, Screen Printing. When we were playing around with T-shirt designs, we knew that we wanted to go with a limited colour palette, as we wanted a design that was striking yet subtle; easy to pull off in everyday wear. Of all the options available, screen printing made the most sense to us.

Each T-shirt is individually hand screen printed to ensure their the highest quality.

Screen printing involves creating a template known as a stencil, that is made in the shape of your design. These stencils must be created separately for each colour in your design so that when you pass the ink over the stencil, it will only be imprinted where the colour will be. After several rounds of designing, we landed on single-tone designs which made screen printing the best choice for the job.

Since we’re all about designer art toys and collectibles, we wanted to incorporate these elements of play into our very first streetwear fashion collaboration. With the 'Fun is Fundamental' concept, the intent is to remind wearers that fun is a fundamental element in life. Joy nourishes our being, and pierces through dark, dreary periods in our lives.

Close-ups of the wearable art toys, designed to pair with each T-shirt you buy.

We wanted to create a physical charm in the form of wearable art toys that acts as a reminder to the wearer--as you walk, the toy gently taps against your body with its message of fun and positivity, reminding you loosen up and have fun. We tried out different areas to place the wearable copium before landing on the bottom of the T-shirt, which doesn't get in the way of movement and comfort, while also spreading its message of mindfulness.

The design was intentionally made to be practical with a removable clasp so that the clothing can be washed separately. Designer toys and washing machines are NOT friends--be sure to remove the wearable art toy before washing your tees, and gently dab it dry if it's dirty. The removal clasp also means your wearable art toy can accompany you in other ways like your backpack, your belt loop, and any other creative ways you can imagine.

We redesigned our fan-favourite copiums into a more rugged, wearable version and paired them each with one of three available designs. While the baseline design was there, it had to be reworked to make sense for streetwear, and reinforced as they weren't just display pieces anymore.

Close-up look at the ‘Fun is Fundamental’ packaging—inspired by cereal boxes and the free toys that comes with them in our younger days.

A lot of thought was also put into the packaging of the T-shirts. To add to the playfulness of the collection, and also as a nod to the fun we had as children when we poured cereal out to grab the freebie, we sourced for packaging that opened up like a cereal box. That took a while, but with the final packaging design and the box, it was well worth the effort.

As seasoned street fashion makers, Steezy made sure every T-shirt was made using premium quality cotton for supreme comfort. Their years of experience in the apparels game was clear in how they executed our designs onto each piece of clothing, and everything came together to form our first step into the streetwear scene.

Which of the 3 designs is your favourite?

The 'Fun is Fundamental' capsule drop is only available in a limited run, and closes on November 24, 2024.

Make sure you grab your orders quick—orders close in 2 days time.

Check our storepage to learn more about the inspiration behind these streetwear essentials and add them to your rotation now.