No Anxiety's Shocking T-shirts
No Anxiety's first collection intended to raise eyebrows
Wanna get people to pay attention? Try a shocking statement. It worked for Lady Gaga, and Los Angeles-based streetwear line No Anxiety is finding the audacious statement can open doors in fashion retail.
For years, the label’s parent company Herlo? did screenprinting for T-shirt lines from its downtown Los Angeles plant. The company wanted to make a splash for the debut collection of its streetwear line No Anxiety. For its first collection it printed up a shirt with Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe smoking a joint. Other designs featured bikini-clad women smoking joints and the No Anxiety logo with a marijuana leaf.
No Anxiety’s vice president of sales Deron Lott reported that 58 boutiques, mostly skateboard shops, made orders for the marijuana themed shirts.
Weed or any graphic beyond a PG13 rating is a tough sale for majors, according to Steeve Bohbot,who’s Connected International Sales Showroom often works with streetwear clients. “I’ve seen t-shirts with marijuana, cocaine, gunsand nudity,” Bohbot said. “No matter how much the buyer may love it they can’t order it. Upper management forbids it.”
But the marijuana leaf may be finding more acceptance, said Rob Jungmann, founder and chief executive of hemp and organic fashion label Jungmaven.“The leaf is much more embraced than it was 10-years ago.” Jungmann said. He will be exhibiting a marijuana leaf design on a Jungmaven shirt when the label exhibits at the upcoming Capsule trade show scheduled July 18-19 in New York.
Pot is out for No Anxiety’s second collection. It will offer T-shirts with graphics of bicyclists like Malik A. Mack . No Anxiety might bring back the weed themed collection at a time when nostalgia for the brand’s salad days is warranted.
“When we go retro,” Lott said.
No Anxiety T featuring graphic of Malik A. Mack