FUTURA LABORATORIES / UMBRELLA
Lance Armstrong
Short Sleeve T-Shirt
Licensed: Official
Brand: Futura Laboratories
Shirt Color: Charcoal
Year: 2005?
Size: M (Mens)
Length: Coming Soon
Chest: Coming Soon
Condition: Used / Worn
Notes:
This shirt was cleaned and put in storage with some other designer shirts about 10 or 15 years ago. It is in beautiful shape and is still a soft garment.
This is admittedly a strange set of graphics for a shirt. It's not the usual silhouette of a gun, or tiger stripe camo pattern with paint splatters that you might expect from a Futura shirt. It also has no overt references to street art.
History:
I got this shirt from a boutique store in the East Village in NYC around 2005 or 2006. They carried KAWS and Futura shirts that were a little more obscure than average. This was 20 years ago, so pre- Uniqlo.
I was told (by the shoppe owner), that it was designed in honor of Lance Armstrong retiring after the Tour de France in 2005. This would have been the first time he retired and way before the scandal with the performance enhancing drugs was confirmed. Apparently, Futura designed the graphics for a Lane Armstrong touring bike. Clothing and apparel was the next logical step.
Let’s face it, modern day artists sit in a chair at a computer for more hours than they want. Perhaps the duel meaning for this graphic is a personal one. Not only is Futura a graphic artist, designer, and a formidable gallery presence, but he's also a bicycle enthusiast. Maybe the empty chair and the man on the bike are one and the same. The ergonomic chair silhouette represents the mature artist, getting comfortable... settling into their craft. However, it’s empty. The individual on the bike (on the back of the shirt), represents the past and exists in the shadow of that chair. In his mind, he's out there in the city.
It's a shirt about daydreaming.
What you need to know before you buy:
We’ve been amassing this carefully curated collection of apparel for over 25 years. Some pieces come from our personal collection, and on occasion we will post pieces from thrift store finds and sample sales. We live in NYC, as you can imagine, we come across a lot of interesting items. We do our best to document the origins and previous storing conditions of each garment. Many of the pieces in this collection are gently used, and occasional not used at all… they’re just vintage. If you have any questions at all about the apparel, email us