Late last month, skateboard and apparel brand DGK hit me up concerning their latest collab. Their Afro Samurai line was set to include boards, clothing, and accessories. First things first, I shared this with the readers of Otaku USA. But then they reached out again, asking if I'd like to have a closer look at what was on offer.
Now, dear reader, it may surprise you to know that I do not skateboard. However, I do like to wear clothes on my body, and I like it even more when those clothes have something to do with things I like. And I do love Afro Samurai (and pretty much anything Takashi Okazaki decides to do). So, here we are:
I opted for two designs I personally liked out of the many on offer. First up, the Kuma tee, available in four colors and priced at $34.
I love a shirt with a front and back print, and I especially love shirt designs that don't confine themselves to a delineated geometric shape. The way Kuma steps out of the graphic is exceptionally cool.
Also in my shipment was
The Blade Hoody, available in four colors and priced at $80. And this was all about those print colors. Just look at em.
This has front, back, and sleeve printing. I absolutely adore it. As far as I'm concerned, these colors pop best on the black fabric. And the inside is very soft and fleecy. This is probably my new favorite hoodie in the house—one more reason I can't wait for the weather to cool off.
This is all well and good, but there's one more thing. The longer I hang out with
Ginger Hoesly (my best friend and regular collaborator), the more of a shirt snob I become. Given her line of work, she's made me acutely aware of fabric quality, print quality, shirt brands, the whole nine yards. So these are cool looking shirts, but how do they stack up quality wise?
Short answer: nice.
The first thing I noticed is that the ink on these shirts is dense. With proper care, these are going to look nice for a long time. They'll take a little breaking in to lie right, but once that's done, I see these lasting for a while.
As I said before, I also love these designs. It's all too easy for collabs to end up looking like one of those free T-shirts you'd get with a magazine or out of a T-shirt cannon or something. (I see a lot of anime collab apparel in my line of work, and just because it comes from a big name brand doesn't mean it'll look cool.) These are actually cool designs to have in your wardrobe, not just "I finally found an Afro Samurai shirt" shirts.
You can find these designs and more on the
DGK website. And if you are of the sick kickflip persuasion, you can also pick up boards, decks, griptape, and more from the same collection.
Thanks to DGK for sending these samples my way. Be sure to visit their site and social media and show them some love!
About the Author
Kara Dennison is an author, journalist, anime enjoyer, reader, guinea pig owner, and tea drinker. Not necessarily in that order.
0 comments