ARCHIVE INSPIRED PRINTS

Back in March we launched our Archive inspired printed garments. Over the years we’ve archived over 2,000 letters, photographs and original garments. We’ve looked back at these and used our findings to inspire new collections giving contemporary twists on sometimes forgotten treasures. The latest additions to this unique range include a man and his umbrella and a horseshoe with a whip. Both again a little bizarre, and both again found in unexpected places.

Along with our other prints; an octopus being ridden by a robot, a hand drawn map of the Bahamas and a blue pelican, we are begining to amass an eclectic mix of designs. These have been printed onto our classic t-shirts and loop back sweat tops, and are now available exclusively online and in-store at Sunspel. Every season we will be building on this range, each garment becoming a piece of a new Sunspel heritage that you can archive in your own wardrobe.

MORE ABOUT THE PRINTS

In a local factory close to our own in Long Eaton, these designs have been carefully hand printed using an unique ink that allows the cotton to stay soft and comfortable maintaining our luxury feel. Better than that, as time goes by the cotton fibers will absorb the ink, so the design will fade into the fabric and become a part of the garment, furthermore the print won’t flake off or crack. In keeping with traditional methods, each t-shirt is hand printed using silk screens.

THE MAN AND HIS UMBRELLA

It’s a fact; Britons like to talk about the weather, usually about how it is raining. Fitting inspiration then for a motif found on a ceramic tile in our Long Eaton factory. Inspired by the tile (date unknown) we commissioned a New York artist to redraw the motif and create a contemporary print. A slightly tongue in cheek take on a British past time.
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THE HORSESHOE

Among the many books and documents the Sunspel design teams have collected as inspiration over the years was one which included this print. We enjoyed it's random nature, and bizarre look and re-appropriated it onto our archive natural colour cotton t-shirt. Opting to use this cream colour t-shirt, as opposed to our white to reflect early printed garments found in our Archive.
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THE MAP

A great find, this map was hand drawn around the turn of the 19th century. It provides a thoughtful insight into one of our wholesale representative’s travels to the West Indies. We love the fact that there are believed to be ‘no suitable stores in the Bahamas’. A real conversation starter and a rather enjoyable read.
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THE OCTOPUS

With more than a hint of the surreal, this print depicts a robot riding an octopus. Dating back to the 1960s, the illustration was on a letter from an advertising agency claiming, ‘we know something about the art of attracting attention’. They weren’t wrong. It certainly grabbed our attention and it now gives our classic loopback sweatshirt and interesting twist.
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THE PELICAN

Among the weird, wonderful and downright wacky artefacts in our archive, we love this humble pelican print found on an advert for stencil storage. We’re still not entirely sure of the tenuous link between pelicans and stencils, but we love it’s British eccentricity and how it looks on our white crew t-shirt.
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