UPDATED 7:24 P.M.: sdc addressed the T-shirt, saying this in an e-mail to Complex.
while it is true that the yeezy shirt made that particular font/ style/ design better known to the rest of the world, it's hardly the original.
that font and style are an homage to 80's/90's LA Latino gang memorial graphic shirts/ sweatshirts (EN MEMORIA DE...) that were made using 2" iron-on gothic letters.
you'll see the style has been echoed in brands like born x raised.
See original story below.
Kanye West made a huge profit with his The Life of Pablo merch. During the New York pop-up this past March, the rapper said he sold $1 million worth of apparel. The tees, hoodies, and jackets have been a favorite for Kanye fans, and it looks like retailers and brands are trying to capitalize on that success.
Since the release of the merch, select retailers have designed products similar to those Kanye and his team created. The latest to sell bootlegs is Forever21. The SDC For the World Graphic Tee features "Simon De Cyrene For the World" text in the same Old English font used in the TLOP merch, formatted in the same manner. "Simon De Cyrene" appears to refer to a Los Angeles brand called sdc by Simon de Cyrene.
It should be noted that other fast-fashion retailers, like H&M, have been criticized for selling bootleg versions of other clothing designs, including those of high-fashion labels.
We've reached out to both Forever21 and sdc by Simon de Cyrene for comment and will update accordingly.
