The summer lines/collections are coming out faster than I can blog about them, so I figured I’d run through them three at a time with my thoughts. Today I’ll (briefly) review the summer releases from three great indie brands: Glamour Kills, Thriving Ink, and Dance Party Massacre.
This line actually came out a long time ago, but that won’t stop me from posting my ultra-late review because there are some tremendously cool designs in this collection. Glamour Kills seems to be heading more and more in the streetwear direction; the designs have more of a classy “vogue” feel as opposed to the teenybopper punk pop look of their older lines. You’ll see a lot more muted colors — blacks, grays, and browns — and photography elements. Typography still has a prominent place in their style, though — once again — it’s a lot less teen hipster than it was before.
Overall, this line is really well done, and the more mature look should attract that many more people to Glamour Kills! I’m especially fond of the first and third tees displayed here.
I couldn’t find a banner dedicated to Thriving Ink’s excellent summer release, so instead I went with this great photo of one of their limited edition tees. Thriving Ink recently launched their new line under new management, with Matt Dronkers taking over for his mom and sister. He now runs the business all by himself, and he seems to be doing a great job!
The new line includes a mix of logo tees (TI Originals) and artist-designed tees (Independent Artist Movement tees). The logo tees are pretty well-designed for the most part but as you probably know already, I’m no big fan of text branded shirts. I actually find that they dominate the selection to the detriment of the IAM shirts, which is somewhat unfortunate. However, the IAM tees push back with a handful of awesome photo tees, one of which is limited edition! Not to mention that the “Big Drop” logo shirt (above left) is really classy in all its minimalism. The sea foam colorway is great as well.
If you like any of these shirts, remember to use TEEJUNCTION to save 15%!
I was pretty excited to see what Dance Party Massacre would release for the summer, and that excitement was not unfounded. This is a stellar line in all aspects, from the actual products and design to the gorgeous lookbook photos. It splits from its past brethren with its toned-down graphics and more mature look, more streetwear than indie hipster (this seems to be a trend amongst indie brands). The horror theme is still prevalent, but reminds me more of classic B-movies than the neon gore n’ zombies stuff.
My favorite shirt from this line is actually the one that has the simplest graphics and the least to do with monsters or massacres. “Live While You Can” (above left) is clean, concise, and bears a message to live by. Ladies can get the same design on a mint shirt, though personally I prefer the guys’ royal blue version — it’s kind of hard to read the white text against a bright green background.
Oh, and don’t forget that we have a coupon for DPM as well: TEEJUNCTION for 10% off!
