24 Apr jL’s Fave Tees Collection
jL’s Fave Tees Collection
On Tuesday 30 April, we released a mini collection that is very close to our hearts. We’ve selected five designs that the Nylon Emperor himself, jL, wore on the regular, and are making them available again for our beloved BlackMilk community to wear in his honour.
Putting this collection together was very special for us – it let us take a trip down memory lane, revisiting old podcasts, videos and pics of jL and our Sharkies, and reminded us once again just how passionate jL was about this little world.
(In fact, jL loved this community so much that he once swapped a one-off shirt he was wearing at a BlackMilk party with a Sharkie who admired it. That was the kind of person he was – he would literally give you the shirt off his back.)
Sharkies have often asked to raid jL’s wardrobe over the years, and they were first given an opportunity to do so with the “jL’s Wardobe Fun Times Friday” back in 2017. We’re proud to be able to once again give you the chance to celebrate his memory with pieces that honour his creative spirit.
And as jL always said: “the more you know, the more you care”. So let’s delve into the stories of these designs, and jL’s personal connection to each of them.
jL always loved Japanese art – and as with everything jL loved, he made a point of being very knowledgeable about it. For example: in this video about our Artpocalypse collection in 2020, he talks about the reason why tigers tend to look quite strange in traditional Japanese art – and not really like tigers at all.
The inspiration for this print was two-fold: recreating that style, and giving jL (and customers) a chance to replicate Bruce Willis’s look from the movie 12 Monkeys.
The “Big Tee” style was also a jL fave – in fact, it is known as the “James Tee” around BMHQ, as he developed it alongside the Product Development team with (we strongly suspect) his personal taste for tee shapes in mind.
jL wore the sample of this tee around the office so often, we kinda just had to release it. He was always about details – so he particularly loved that this print looks like camo from far off, with the little toy soldiers it’s made up of being revealed when you get closer.
The print itself was inspired by jL’s childhood memories of playing with plastic toy soldiers, just like many an 80s kid!
jL introduced the Cathedral print on leggings way back in 2010, and it quickly became another BlackMilk icon. It was chosen as the pocket and neckline print for our first ever Pocket Tee – a shape that was a personal project for jL to develop. He wore it constantly – in customer info videos, collection intros, and even to Las Vegas, where he and the team shot the campaign for our Fear And Clothing In Las Vegas collection in 2016.
There are two things that jL was particularly well known for: his amazingly vivid imagination, and his unique sense of humour. So when Sharkies asked for “more realistic unicorn leggings” back in 2013, he sat down with one of our in-house graphic artists, and together they created this epic print.
jL wrote this on our Facebook page at the time:
“So we sat down and drew this picture, inspired by that whole thing you do when you wonder who would win in a fight between fictional character X and fictional character Y. In this case, the mighty unicorn and the Tyrannosaurus Rex (who cheats by firing lasers at him from his mechanical battle headgear).
Originally we drew the two flying in space and battling each other, but then we thought that was just ridiculous and totally unrealistic.
So we made it so that they were riding clouds amidst the cosmic lightning, wooohoooo!!!!
Much more realistic.”
Hell Yeah went on to become one of BlackMilk’s most iconic prints, appearing on leggings, dresses, tees, skirts, hoodies – and this long sleeved tee, which was one of jL’s go-tos on colder days at BMHQ.
jL loved sports, particularly NFL and basketball. The Shooter design was born from his passion for basketball, and a little later we also released an NFL-inspired top: the Touchdown.
The very first iteration of the Shooter was the Sharkie Black and Red Basketball Jersey. Everyone loved it – but in true jL style, the first version cheekily featured a logo that was a little too close to that of a certain major sporting code. The design was re-released with our logo in place, and renamed to the now-iconic Shooter.
jL wore the original design for well over a decade after its initial 2012 release. It was one of his fave options for many a podcast, BTS videos and Sharkie events around the world <3.