CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Winners Design Starbucks Tees
Photos: Starbucks.com
Alexander Wang and Billy Reid are among the designers who created T-shirts to celebrate 40 years of Starbucks.
Aside from their daily soy lattes, skinny cappuccinos, or insert-complicated-drink-order-here, the style set probably doesn’t give that much thought to Starbucks. But in honor of its 40th anniversary, the ubiquitous coffee chain is trading its teas for tees.
Alexander Wang, Sophie Theallet and Billy Reid—the last three winners of the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Award—have teamed up with Starbucks to create limited edition T-shirts inspired by their morning brew.
“I remember my first Starbucks experience,” says Reid in a video promoting the partnership. “I was on a business trip, traveling to Seattle, back in 1988 or ’89. I remember walking in this place to get a cup of coffee—I was like, this is the best cup of coffee I’ve ever had! This is one of these opportunities you just never expect to have.”
Reid created both a men’s and a women’s tee, Theallet created one just for the ladies, while Wang’s take is unisex. Retailing for $85 each, they’re available at starbucksstore.com and select Nordstrom stores. (Sadly, you can’t pick one up along with your chai.)
Reid’s shirts are vintage-inspired and worn in, while Wang’s also looks a little distressed—his design is inspired by a coffee spill.
“We took the coffee and did a coffee spill, and it led to this abstract rendition of the logo,” Wang explains. “There’s a sense of humor and it’s very lighthearted.”
Theallet’s, meanwhile, is representative of the coffee purveyor’s global presence. “I think, my god, there are Starbucks all over the world now!” she says. “It’s something incredible. So for this tee shirt, I made a map.”
We just wish they came in tall, grande, and venti ...
In related news, check out the 2011 finalists for the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund.
