Bugs Bunny's Street Shock Value
Bugs Bunny’s “What’s Up, Doc?” line will be delivered with a shocking streetwear look this year.
That rascally rabbit and friends Daffy Duck, Tasmanian Devil, Marvin the Martian and other popular, classic Looney Tunes characters are receiving a streetwear-savvy, satiric makeover by Natures Mistake, a Monrovia, Calif.–based clothing company. The company is debuting its Natures Mistake Presents Looney Tunes series at the MAGIC trade show in Las Vegas.
Natures Mistake’s makeover gives an X-ray view of the popular characters. The Looney Tunes crew is depicted not with the silly faces that have been popular since the 1940s but by their skeletons. Marvin the Martian has red bones.
Creating the new Looney Tunes look is the biggest splash for 5-year-old fashion label, which manufactures its own cut-and-sew Tshirts as well as caps, sweatshirts and hooded sweaters. This skeleton look—also called the “Zombie” series—is being released with the label’s Leftyjoe Series 1, which also takes an idiosyncratic take on the Looney Tunes.
The idea to mix popular cartoon characters, zombies and skeletons started when Natures Mistake owner Matt Geiger and artist Joe “Leftyjoe” Torres started printing T-shirts with iconic characters, including those from Walt Disney Co., with similar zombie/skeleton looks.
Disney had no part in this Natures Mistake project, and Geiger said he was never contacted by Disney, which is known for its careful maintenance of its intellectual properties. Geiger’s Disney zombie T-shirts were featured at events such as the Focus trade show at the California Market Center in Los Angeles and the L.A. Fashion Weekend at Sunset Gower Studios.
Natures Mistake stopped making the Mickey Mouse zombies in June, just as Looney Tunes owner Warner Bros. contacted him. For Geiger, the Disney zombie tees were simply a fun, creative project—albeit one that led to a new business opportunity. “We were just designing [the Disney zombie tees] to get the feel of what we could do,” he said. “We were pretty excited to get this deal with Warner Bros.”
Geiger had no sales forecast for the Warner Bros. line, but he hopes to place it in major retailers, specialty boutiques and amusementpark stores.
Both Warner Bros. and Disney have a history of taking a gamble on streetwear looks with some shock value. In 2007, the company collaborated with the Dr. Romanelli brand, which portrayed Bugs Bunny as a mad, scissors- wielding doctor. In 2008, Disney went street by developing a line called Bloc28, which portrayed Mickey Mouse as a hipster in a graffiti-filled urban world.
Wholesale price points range from $16 for T-shirts to $35 for hoodies. For more information, contact Eme Mizioch at eme@jokenstyle.com.
