The Return of the Pre-SS13 Collection!

As a renegade fashion brand, we are back again with another collection that comes at you like a punch in the throat. Overflowing with couture embellishments, elaborate details, and a nuanced look at the raw, unadulterated style of punk rock, this collection stares in the face of the fashion industry.

With the re-release of our Pre-SS13 collection, we are bringing you a stunning collection of tees that have proved so popular we couldn’t keep them on the shelves. Overwhelming response has shown this to be one of our most highly-acclaimed collections, and so it is with a proud smirk and a knowing glance that we bring you, once again, this epic collection.

 

Each tee in this collection features its own custom-designed set of exquisite details, hand-crafted and intricately considered. From subtle musical references, like dozens guitar-plectrum shaped fabric pieces coalescing to create the soaring shape of an eagle, to the in-your-face punk vibe of skulls and guitars crafted from safety pins, each tee has its own story to tell. With a high attention to detail and a shameless desire to constantly break the mold, Elvis Jesus has cleverly adapted non-standard fashion materials to create high-end products. Manipulating safety pins and metal rivets, chain links and heavy embroidery, the couture details are evident in every inch of our tees.

 

Always one to play off of opposites, juxtaposing rock with religion, heroes against anti-heroes, and fashion against politics, EJ once again stands alone in a sea of standard menswear. 

  

Online and in stores, this epic collection is making its re-debut in a matter of days, in our flagship store at the Manchester Trafford Centre, in Harvey Nichols and various online retailers.

The Bone Church

One of the signature aspects of our collections is our use of ordinary materials in extraordinary ways, transforming everyday objects like safety pins and rivets into elaborate embellishments. But there are some people, or places, that push this transformation to a different level. Today I wanted to show you the stunning re-invention of a material we all posses: bones.

Located in the Czech Republic, the Sedlec Ossuary is a stunning display of human ingenuity and a beautiful transformation of materials when faced with extraordinary circumstances. During the 11th Century the ground surrounding the church was sprinkled with earth from the Holy Land of Jerusalem, and the grounds of the church soon became a hallowed place where people desired to be buried. During the Black Death of the 14th Century, people flocked to the church to worship and to be buried. With a multitude of bodies and nowhere to put them, the monks were forced to come up with a creative solution.

What has emerged from these dire circumstances is a location that is beyond words and, while macabre, holds an inextinguishable beauty. The remains of over 40,000 people have been used to create elaborate chandeliers, coats of arms and elaborate wall coverings that defy convention. What a beautiful and unusual use of material, and what a stunning and intense place to visit.

Inspired: The Americans by Robert Frank

A big source of our inspiration here at Elvis Jesus comes from photography. Often we're looking at images of rebels from popular culture, concert images of Jimi Hendrix or stills from videos of Bob Dylan. Photographs capture a mood and tell a story, relaying a certain emotion and energy that we're looking to convey in our clothing. But sometimes we stumble upon images that are not of famous people, but instead are of everyday life, telling a story more real than the pop culture that we are daily exposed to.

One photographer who has captured our attention is Robert Frank, a Swiss photographer working in the 1950s. After emigrating to the US he created his most famous photographic series, The Americans, in which he spent two years traveling across the United States photographing people on the streets, capturing candid moments that stand as a testament to the heated social tensions that existed among the American people at that time.

Taking gritty shots from unusual angles, Frank captured all strata of the American populace, showing an outsider's view of such a vast and evolving nation.

Take a look at some of his famous shots to get a real, unadulterated look into America in the 1950's, right as the counterculture and social revolution started to make their debuts.

For more images from The Americans, look here.

 

Our Dedicated Fans

There's nothing more valuable to a company than a loyal fan base. Here at Elvis Jesus, we thrive on interaction with our customers and getting feedback and opinions on our designs. We also love getting to share what we create with such an enthusiastic and receptive audience, which is why we hold weekly competitions to win your own EJ tee. Last week our winner, DJ Kev Wise, received one of our tees from the Pre-SS13 collection, Pretty Vacant. We were stoked to hear how happy he was to receive that specific design, and even more happy when he told us he was about to do a promotional photo shoot and would be wearing our shirts.

Well, the pictures showed up today in our inbox, and they're awesome. Take a look at some of the shots he sent our way.

It's always a thrill to see Elvis Jesus out in the world, on the street and at gigs, and we love when our fans show their loyalty.

If you want to win your very own EJ tee, take a look at our Facebook page to find out all about our weekly competitions. You, too, can score one of our rockstar worthy tees.

Epic Embroidery from Takashi Iwasaki

Part of the allure of an Elvis Jesus tee is the ornate detail that we meticulously put into every tee that we design. Whether that's using alternative materials like safety pins or rivets, or featuring epic embroidery detail, we make sure that embellishment is a feature in our collections. In our continuous hunt to find new and inventive ways of incorporating embroidery we stumbled onto the artist Takashi Iwasaki.

Using embroidery as a means of illustration, the artist creates abstracted landscapes solely from embroidery thread, rich collisions of color and linear graphics creating hypnotic and entrancing images. He uses embroidery as a way to capture moments in time, to expose dreamscapes and capture and expose the visions within his mind.

Without any doubt, these embroidery pieces serve as a bold and intriguing inspiration four our own embellishment and embroidery work. To see more samples of his work, visit his website!

 

 

 

 

 

 

EJ Fragrance in Italy

Elvis Jesus is more than just a t-shirt company... it's a lifestyle. We work hard to bring you every element of our vision, from elaborate, embellished tees to clothing and accessories. And now we continue our tradition of challenging the status quo by partnering with Fragrance and Beauty Creations to create our first-ever premium fragrances.

Each of our fragrances embraces the deviant ethos of the brand, with each bottle cleverly encased in a bootleg fashion, buried within the pages of a 'book'--a nod to the origin of the brand's namesake. Each glass flacon is emblazoned with the Elvis Jesus logo, rose-coloured gold For Her, and pewter For Him. The books that hold each bottle are bound in lustrous brown or black material, with the Elvis Jesus emblazoned upon each cover, and an homage to the company history upon each spine.

The scents themselves embody the play of opposites inherent within the principles of Elvis Jesus. Found within Elvis Jesus For Him is a masculine earthy citrus scent that precludes the lingering masculine notes of cedar, vetivert and sensual woods leave a long lasting, seductive impact. Elvis Jesus For Her opens with a fresh burst of uplifting grapefruit, cherry, and peppermint blended with the woody backdrop of nutmeg that develops into an innately feminine heart of rose, jasmine and cinnamon--evocative of a glamorous bygone era.

These fragrances are set to make their debut in April, with release parties to welcome our newest edition to the Elvis Jesus collection. In the meantime, we are thrilled to announce that our fragrance is making its preliminary debut at the Cosmoprof Trade Show in Bolonga, Italy this week.

rubbish sculptures

Insulting? No.

Using only light and rubbish, Tim Noble and Sue Webster are able to create stunning shadow sculptures. Collecting household waste, rubbish, scrap metal and taxidermy animals, these artistic collaborators fuse together found materials into seemingly random formations and conglomerations. It is only when lit from a certain angle that you see the actual result, a perfectly formed shadow cast upon the wall, revealing the silhouettes of people or animals. Meticulously hand crafted, these works require an abstracted view of reality to create, as what you see in the physical structure is not what appears on the wall.

Music plays a heavy influence into their work, and they ask the same thing of their work that they ask of their musical choices: to push boundaries and expectations:

“I think anything that’s a bit of a rocket up the arse, anything that kicks against the routine, against the mundane things that close down your mind, is a refreshing and good thing. Punk did that very successfully . . . it offered a direct and instant means of producing products or things."

With an intensive eye towards alternative materials and transformation, Tim Noble and Sue Webster are pushing boundaries and raising eyebrows with their elaborate works.

 

 

Keyser: A Look at EJ Detail

In our continuing series on Elvis Jesus detail, I'm here to bring you another sneak-peek of our tee, Keyser. This iconic movie tee is a triumphant reinvention of the class EJ pastiche. The customised poster image pays homage to a cult favourite in a full front, halftone print. 

 

Scribbled pictures and scrawling doodles are hand stitched over the top in textured relief to give a playful twist. 

The back is fully printed in the signature Guitar Cross repeat pattern, and the shoulder seams are embellished with safety pins for added detail. Taking an Elvis Jesus twist on an homage to a classic film, this tee defies convention. Only moments away from re-release, this tee, along with the rest of the Pre-SS13 collection will be available within the next few weeks. Stay tuned to grab your very own!