You’ll see loads of t-shirt designers floating around Vienna like in every other city these days, but now and again, one particular design will stab you in the eye which elevates this simple, versatile piece of fashion canvas to lofty heights shared with framed art.
The t-shirt designs from Nullkommasiebenprozent (abbreviated to NKSP) own that special something, and their designs won’t only stab you in the eye, but in the brain as well. Walking a line between playful and grungy, NKSP bears teeth, revealed in a cheeky grin.
And then you realise when talking to Vienna-based co-creators, Cathi Fischer and Thomas Platz, that a t-shirt with such personality requires personalities behind it. And that sometimes great things happen when somebody from the outside of the fashion industry steps in, and designs.
Especially when they team up with a talented graphic designer – that would be Cathi. She explains her artistic process, which involves inspiration from an array of sources, plenty of scribbling, and good old fashion instinct.
“Well, a lot of ideas for the designs are born from things like an old concert poster or an old CD cover. It also comes from our travels – then I just scribble and create what I want, what comes out,” Kathi tells me, while Thomas adds:
“Yeah, for example we were in Cuba recently where we were so blown away by many of the posters, the t-shirts people were wearing as many of the designs and typography used has been lost and nobody’s producing it here in Europe.”
Thomas is the misfit half of this outfit, having come from a humanities and environmental background.
“I’ve studied International Development and sustainability, and I always knew I wanted to do something that promotes and lives within the idea of sustainable living.”
This gives me hope. The fact that a student of such things – who would previously have remained in the research sector, government position or working for a NGO or another environmental institute – steps into a completely different field and creates things that disseminates ideas of sustainable living, responsible consumerism and fair trade practices, is damn inspiring, and it makes all of these ideas sexy for the people who wear them.
All of the designs from NKSP are fair trade and made out of 100% organic cotton, and this claim is pierced deeply into NKSP’s personality. It actually determined the name, Nullkommasiebenprozent (zero comma seven percent) which stands for the percentage of eco-friendly cotton production happening world-wide (this number was valid in 2011 when Cathi and Thomas came up with the name). This means a fucking whooping 99.3% of cotton is produced on mass, with nasty pesticides, and other chemicals. Don’t just raise your eyebrows, readers. Think about what the meaning behind these numbers are. This is not just a buzz marketing angle either being done by NKSP. It is obvious when talking to them, that there’s passion and thought for both the cause, and the designs which convey this message, in NKSP.
Every shirt has its own personality. From their current vibrant summer ‘Peanut Butter and Jelly Time’ collection, to the ‘Sly Fox’ design.
The designs are silk screened on to the t-shirts locally and then displayed in NKSP’s new home at the store, Wier, the new embassy for local grass-roots designers in Vienna.
What’s in a simple t-shirt? Well, if it’s from NKSP, a whole lot apparently.
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