For young, political T-shirts are a big hit

RICHMOND, Va. — Political T-shirts — particularly those supporting presumed Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama — are emerging in a big way this season, transformed from the uniform of campaign workers to a definitive statement of youthful, progressive cool.

Paired with jeans as sported by Good Charlotte rocker Joel Madden at Coachella, or dressed up with a seersucker jacket and khakis for a night on the town, the shirts are turning up on city streets and retail shelves like never before.

Fashion insiders attribute the trend to an emerging young, casual voter — one ready to mix politics with sneakers — as well as professionals who've embraced the campaign.

Obama, says one provocative tee, is the new black.

"There's no question at all, the Obama campaign has crossed over to popular culture," says Brian Kirwin, a Virginia Beach, Va., political consultant who also advises would-be lawmakers on their image.

T-shirts for Republican rival John McCain, including those saying "Nobama," have cropped up in Web retailers such as Zazzle.com and CafePress, but don't seem to have caught on in the same way. That may reflect Obama's greater appeal among younger, T-shirt-wearing voters.

Kirwin says years past saw such shirts more or less limited to the most politically plugged in.

"I've seen candidates give away T-shirts for their campaign," Kirwin says, "I've never seen [consumers] from the bottom up latch on."

Now spots like Brooklyn, New York's custom T-shirt house, Neighborhoodies, sell Obama high school throwback jerseys — an homage to the lawmaker's younger years, and if you know anything about throwbacks, a major statement of one's cool factor.

Tees stamped with red, white and blue images of the Illinois Democrat sell for $28 at Urban Outfitters, significant for a fashion chain targeting the trendiest twenty-somethings.

Kirwin says voters are seeking a way to express themselves apart from the more conservative, old guard pins, which he says are "kind of on the way out."

The same voters are frequenting social networking sites like MySpace, where people can easily market their own homegrown T-shirt designs, and an image can rapidly morph into an icon.

Shepard Fairey, a graphic artist and head of Los Angeles-based Obey Clothing, says that's exactly the phenomenon that landed his shirts, which feature an Andy Warhol-inspired image of a pensive Obama, in Urban Outfitters.

"The image got out on the Web and traveled virally," says Fairey, who says he's seen people sporting the shirts at televised rallies.

Kirwin and Fairey agree the trend is driven as much by voters interested in more dressed-down political statements as the candidate himself: Multiethnic, handsome and full of modern, progressive thought, Obama's a rock star candidate who's become his own brand.

"He has a different type of cultural currency," Fairey says. "Last election, would you have wanted to wear a T-shirt with either Bush or Kerry on it?"

The Obama camp has zeroed in on the power of branding, according to Michael Bierut, partner at graphics firm Pentagram, in New York.

He points to Obama's logo, a set of stripes positioned with a letter "O" in a design that seems to mimic the rising sun.

Bierut says his campaign has tapped into the natural American response to icons, building a level of loyalty that could pay off this fall.

"His graphics do exactly what good graphics are supposed to do — they expand the appeal of a particular to the broadness of a movement. If you wear the Nike logo, you're aligning yourself consciously or not, with a whole bunch of ideas," he says. "People who put on an Obama shirt are supporting the candidate, as well as pledging allegiance to a larger movement."