The Power of T-Shirt graphics

“It may not be haute couture but the humble T-shirt is nearly always fashion's favourite when it comes to making waves, grabbing headlines and raising cash for a good cause.�

Anna Browning BBC NEWS

The power of T-shirt slogans Vivienne Westwood has come out in support of Habeas The latest to make such a fashion statement is British designer Vivienne Westwood teamed with civil rights group Liberty - who is protesting against the government's "draconian" new anti-terror laws.

But the Punk pioneer is by no means the first fashionista to use T-shirts to get a message noticed.

"I am not a terrorist," says Vivienne Westwood's new ÂŁ50 T-shirts, "please don't arrest me".

Launched to raise money for human rights group Liberty, the group says the tops are trying to draw attention to government proposals to create new terrorism offences and to allow three months' detention without charge.

"When I was a schoolgirl my history teacher, Mr Scott, began to take classes in civic affairs. The first thing he explained to us was the fundamental rule of law embodied in Habeas Corpus," says Westwood.

"He spoke with pride of civilization and democracy. The hatred of arbitrary arrest by the lettres de cachet of the French monarchy caused the storming of the Bastille.

"We can only take democracy for granted if we insist on our liberty."

Fashion Targets Breast Cancer •

To date the Fashion Targets Breast Cancer T-shirts have raised £6.5 million since their launch in the UK 10 years ago.

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They first hit the catwalk in New York in 1994 after Ralph Lauren's friend Nina Hyde, the editor of the Washington Post, died of breast cancer.

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It is now an international campaign and operates in 10 countries, including the UK, Brazil, Canada and Greece.

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Name a supermodel and it is likely she will at some point have modelled the recognisable "target" logo. They include Yasmin Le Bon, Jodie Kidd, Elle MacPherson and Gisele Bundchen.

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According to charity Breakthrough Breast Cancer, the money raised by the T-shirts over the last decade is proof of their success.

Elle MacPherson is one of several who have promoted the T-shirt

Jenny Frost

Claudia Schiffer

Judge bars four-letter word T-shirt A potential juror attracted the wrath of a judge after he noticed the "fcuk" logo used by French Connection UK on the man's T-shirt.

Judge Huw Daniel said, "I stood one of the jurors down. He didn't take the oath properly. "Secondly, the mode of dress was a potential source of distraction.�

"The mis-spelling of a basic Anglo Saxon word on a garment hardly dignifies the court proceedings," he said. "It is beyond me why anyone can think that they should wear anything like that in public, particularly in court."

'Obnoxious' Following the "fcuk" logo launch in 1997, French Connection UK reported a sharp rise in profits.

But the lettering has attracted criticism, including a ruling two years ago by the Advertising Standards Authority, which ordered the firm to pre-submit future poster campaigns for vetting.

FCUK The success of the Trevor Beattie FCUK campaign has been phenomenal.

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When it was first launched in 1997 the French Connection clothing store piled on profits as its tongue-in-cheek Tshirts, alongside advertising hoardings, captured our attention

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"People liked the humour aspect of it," said a spokeswoman.

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But times have changed and both the buying public and French Connection have moved on.

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According to the company, brands and logos are no longer as fashionable. "It is very much not the market anymore," she added.

T-shirts in double-meaning boob Reaction to the T-shirt campaign has been mixed A row has broken out over a set of Scottish Executive T-shirts designed to encourage women to stop binge drinking.

The pink tops carry the logo "Mine's a Double" across the chest and have been produced to persuade females to have at least two alcohol-free days a week.

The alcohol advisory team in Aberdeen claims the wording gives off a mixedmessage and is inappropriate and potentially demeaning to women.

The executive said the shirts were issued with guidance as to their use.

They were produced for a specific newspaper campaign to promote safe drinking and also carry a small slogan on their left sleeves which reads: "I'm giving my body two days off alcohol."

However, the Joint Alcohol and Drug Action Team (JADAT) in Aberdeen are unhappy with the design and are sending them back to the executive.

KATHERINE HAMNETT'S PROTEST T-SHIRT •

Katherine Hamnett, another British designer, has become famous - if not infamous - for her protest T-shirts.

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The anti-nuclear T-shirt proclaiming "58% Don't Want Pershing" that she wore to Downing Street to meet Margaret Thatcher in 1984 has become the stuff of legend.

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But she did not stop there. In 2003 Hamnett sent models down the catwalk in London wearing T-shirts shouting "No War, Blair Out".

Michael accuses BBC in war row

Singer George Michael has accused music TV show Top of the Pops of ordering him not to wear an anti-war T-shirt for a performance.

The star, who recorded a version of protest song The Grave for the show, said the BBC refused to let him wear a T-shirt bearing the words "No, war, Blair out".

"We are not giving George Michael a platform to air his political views, we are giving viewers the fantastic opportunity to see an international star perform on TOTP for the first time in 17 years," a BBC statement said.

The Grave was originally written by McLean about the Vietnam war.

McLean said he was "proud of George Michael for standing up for life and sanity".

KATHERINE HAMNETT'S PROTEST T-SHIRT •

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And she again used London Fashion Week - and model Naomi Campbell - to urge people living in Aidsravaged Africa to wear condoms.

Her T-shirts are "copyable", because Hamnett liked the idea of the copiers unwittingly promoting her messages.

Choose Life Katherine Hamnett

Stay Alive in ‘85 Katherine Hamnett

World Peace Now

Katherine Hamnett

Worldwide Nuclear Ban Now

Katherine Hamnett

South Africa's struggle T-shirts •

During South Africa's apartheid era, wearing a T-shirt bearing pro-democracy slogans was a popular way of demonstrating against the system.

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As part of the celebrations to mark the end of apartheid 10 years ago, the Old Court House Museum in Durban is displaying many of these T-shirts..

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"These very simple T-shirts tell an intense narrative about the struggle we have endured to arrive at this celebration," the event organiser, Rooksana Omar, said.

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The T-shirts were cheap to produce and were used by various labour, antiapartheid and social organisations to mobilise their supporters.

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On some of the T-shirts, slogans were clearly emblazoned across the front or back.

South Africa's struggle T-shirts •

The T-shirts were cheap to produce and were used by various labour, antiapartheid and social organisations to mobilise their supporters.

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On some of the T-shirts, slogans were clearly emblazoned across the front or back.

South Africa's struggle T-shirts â€˘â€ˆ

On some of the T-shirts, slogans were clearly emblazoned across the front or back.

South Africa's struggle T-shirts â€˘â€ˆ

But often a simple image - like a clenched fist - was all that was needed to get the message across.

www.howies.co.uk

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our beliefs A higher quality product will invariably last longer. It will keep on performing as it was designed to for longer before it finally needs replacing. And so over its lifespan it will have consumed less valuable resources than an inferior product that will have been replaced many times.That's why we make the best quality products that we know how.

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