![]() ![]() These artists push imaginative, fan-led ideas in their merch rather than a dashed-off logo on a black T-shirt. ![]() As well as Scott, artists like Beyoncé, Billie Eilish, Justin Bieber and Frank Ocean have made merch a central part of their brand, and many also have their own fashion lines. That view now feels old-fashioned in a world where the most successful musicians are multi-hyphenates. But eye-catching merch has not always been seen positively: in the 90s, acts like James and the Farm were derided as “T-shirt bands”, implying that their merch was more popular than their music. The 70s saw the tour T-shirt become standard, with rock bands like AC/DC and Kiss using bold graphics as part of their image. A T-shirt from the tour, with a zip like the one on the cover of the album, is currently for sale on eBay for £685.Ĭan’t buy me love … Beatles merch on sale in California. The Rolling Stones ramped things up with the release of Sticky Fingers in 1971, the first album to feature their famous lips logo, designed by a British art student. By 1964, their manager Brian Epstein’s company received 46% of all merchandise profit. The Beatles capitalised on their mania the following decade with everything from wigs to Ringo dolls. Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis tells of how the singer’s manager, Colonel Parker, caught this trend early, producing merchandise – including the famous I Hate Elvis badges – in the mid-50s. We have, of course, been signposting “Hey, I was at this concert” for decades. Their point of view is more than just, ‘Hey, I was at this concert.’” “Artists like Travis Scott authentic participants in fashion. ![]() “Musicians have never been more culturally influential,” says Derek Morrison, vice president of StockX. Photograph: Startraks Photo/REX Shutterstock The streetwear resale site StockX reports that a sweatshirt from the merch run of Kids See Ghosts, the 2018 project by Kanye West and Kid Cudi, typically sells for 533% higher than it retailed for – even after West wore a White Lives Matter T-shirt for his Yeezy show earlier this month.Īll the gear … Justin Bieber fans in New York for his 2011 tour. Merch from certain artists is particularly sought after – as evidenced by its its resale value. “It’s kind of cool now to have that logo on your chest or your shoe.” “Fashion companies are selling merch products for fans to wear and it’s no longer cringe,” he says. But merch is also “a legitimate part of mainstream fashion now”, he says – in fact, it has had an impact on fashion itself. Metallica collaborated with Netflix on a T-shirt combining their logo with that of the Hellfire Club from Stranger Things.ĭaniel-Yaw Miller, editorial associate at The Business of Fashion, says merch is not just about music but also sport and even automobiles – “like car companies launching a $450 sneaker”. Meanwhile, much to traditionalists’ chagrin, Primark and Urban Outfitters sell T-shirts of Fleetwood Mac and the Doors to young people who might like the logo more than the back catalogue. Over the last 10 years, brands including Balenciaga, Louis Vuitton and Acne have included very expensive versions of band T-shirts in their catwalk collections. Everpress, a marketplace where creatives sell limited runs of merch and only print what is ordered, reported sales doubling in the pandemic and estimate that about 25% of the T-shirts it sells are from musicians or record labels. “Unless you’re a mainstream pop artist, making more money on their merchandise than they are from a record.” This was exacerbated during the pandemic when the income stream from live gigs disappeared. Jordan Gaster, head of A&R at Sandbag, says merch has become much more of a priority in the last decade. Sandbag, founded in the UK in 2002 with Radiohead their first client, have worked with BTS, Abba and Justice. Ceremony of Roses, founded in 2016 and the subject of investment from Sony this year, produces merch for Adele, Olivia Rodrigo and A$AP Rocky. The LA-based company Bravado produces merch for Scott as well as Billie Eilish, the Rolling Stones and the Weeknd. ![]() Music merch is an industry in its own right – one with global retail sales valued at $3.5bn in 2018. Photograph: Matt Hunt/Neato/REX/Shutterstock A Billie Eilish fan with a hat and poster going into the singer’s show in Bangkok. ![]()
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