Flicking through some old photos recently reminiscing  about times past (oh dear I sound old) and I came across a photograph of me in attendance at a very happening house party wearing a T-shirt with a very well known Monkey design on the front.

What I didn’t realise then in my early teens was how trendy that t-shirt could well be now! It was in fact an early product of Paul Frank, a world famous brand of t-shirts, accessories and a pungent for the unconventional and off-the cuff random items, that I’d picked up during a visit to London with my school, I took a liking to the bold and straight forward smiling monkey motif and it had fast become a regular part of my social attire. What I’m amazed at is that it really didn’t occur to me that that t-shirt hanging in my wardrobe that I had stupidly passed on to a friend after I grew out of it, was in fact a piece of fashion history.

In 1995, a little known newsstand employee from California whom first began creating wallets from scrap vinyl in the shape of lettering and quirky unconventional outlines, Paul Frank Sunich became an extremely popular accessories designer, and after partnering with Ryan Heuser a friend with a keen sense of finance and business an empire of watches, socks, wallets, bags (and even bikes) and house wear was born.

 

Now, in 2009 he has a fantastic website that is accessed and bought from worldwide and is known throughout the planet for creating simple bold and fun designs that have appealed to teens and young adults everywhere.

 

Over time, trademark characters have appeared alongside the regular designs, the monkey is now known as Julius and with him are a whole range of silly, sweet and sometimes rather strange animals and people that can be found emblazoned on t-shirts and pyjama trousers in bright colours and fabrics.

 

Paul Frank Industries has now also diversified into eye wear, creating bright and fun spectacles and sunglasses for those searching for something a little bit different to wear. Flagship stores have now been established throughout the globe including London, Milan, New York and in the Far East, not forgetting its roots the original store still exists in California.

 

I’m now on the hunt for the same t-shirt I owned over a decade ago, perhaps in a larger size however, fingers crossed I can re-own a little bit of my own history.

 

Tee Boy

 

 

 

 

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 24th, 2009 at 11:35 am and is filed under Fashion, Random, T-Shirt Printing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.