RETARDO T-SHIRTS

Photo by Vivian Joyner.

Will Lemon is not just another post-hippie Californian with half-closed eyes, comfy pants, and a “whatever, man” attitude. He is the avatar of a gentle Pacific breeze that has come to the East Coast bearing a suitcase full of T-shirts, jackets, totes, and bandannas with a totally original approach to silk screening.

“I went to cooking school, so I didn’t plan on this happening,” says Will. But that’s definitely for the best. Without his level of amateurism he might have implemented annoying professional techniques like branding and mass production on his one-of-a-kind designs. “You’ll never see a shirt of mine with a big ‘Will Lemon’ across it. I’m not into shit like that.”

Instead, he makes images and patterns from small pieces of wallpaper and textiles, which he cuts out and fits together with the focus of an ADD kid handling his first safety scissors. “I have no clue what I’m doing,” reports Will.

His oblivious approach has worked so well that exclusive vintage dealers like Some Old Rubies have even started commissioning him to liven up their more lackluster merchandise. Opening Ceremony (see pg. 40) and our stores have also picked up his shirts.

Unlike some high-minded designers who think they’re curing breast cancer when they put together some boring silk screen, Will knows he is just a guy who makes T-shirts. But even with such a lowbrow outlook he’s still found an advantageous way to refer to his modest line of work: “There are a couple different ways I could talk about it. I could say that I make t-shirts. But if I say that I’m a clothing designer, then all the girls swoon. Clothing designers win panties automatically.”

MIDNIGHT

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