Item 2019.1.3 - Meadham Kirchhoff Reject Everything Rectangular Cut T-Shirt

Identity area

Reference code

2019.1.3

Title

Meadham Kirchhoff Reject Everything Rectangular Cut T-Shirt

Date(s)

  • Spring Summer 2015 (Creation)

Level of description

Item

Extent and medium

1

Context area

Name of creator

Meadham Kirchhoff
(2006-2015)

Administrative history

Edward Meadham (b. 1979) and Benjamin Kirchhoff (b. 1978) founded Meadham Kirchhoff in 2006 as a womenswear brand. They had initially shown a menswear collection in 2005 under the label Benjamin Kirchhoff as part of the inaugural Fashion East MAN show at London Fashion Week. Meadham Kirchhoff had NEWGEN sponsorship for seven seasons up until 2010. In 2010 the label won the Emerging Talent Ready-to-Wear award at the British Fashion Awards and were a semi-finalist for the LVMH Prize in 2014. In June 2012, the brand launched their menswear line at London Collections: Men, showing their Spring Summer 2013 collection as part of Fashion East MAN for three seasons. They did not show menswear again until their final runway show in September 2014, which featured both menswear and womenswear. Shortly afterwards they denied press rumours that the company was about to close, but mounting financial debts forced the company to shut down in September 2015. In June 2016, a campaign was launched to raise £15,000 to buy back around fifty items from their archive to be donated to museums.
Sources: British Vogue; Dazed; Drapers; Middle East North Africa Financial Network.

Repository

Westminster Menswear Archive

Archival history

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

Content and structure area

Scope and content

A punk-style t-shirt constructed from a rectangular piece of white cotton jersey, sewn together along two sides. It features a raw-edged hole cut out for the head, two chest holes edged with ribbing, and sleeves with curved seams inserted. The t-shirt is screen-printed with images and text in yellow, pink, orange, red, and blue.
Country of Design: United Kingdom
Country of Manufacture: United Kingdom

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling

Accruals

System of arrangement

Conditions of access and use area

Conditions governing access

Conditions governing reproduction

Language of material

    Script of material

      Language and script notes

      Physical characteristics and technical requirements

      Cotton

      Finding aids

      Allied materials area

      Existence and location of originals

      Existence and location of copies

      Related units of description

      Related descriptions

      Notes area

      Note

      RECTANGULAR CUT T-SHIRT
      Meadham Kirchhoff
      Spring Summer 2015
      While most T-shirts are simply cut with two side seams, shoulder seams and inset sleeves, this T-shirt from Meadham Kirchhoff’s last collection subverts these assumptions and is deceptively complex. The garment is flat-cut in the shape of a large rectangle, with a curving raw slit on the upper portion of the garment for the head and a wide slash on the lower front allowing the body to emerge. Due to the placement of the slits, the T-shirt is forced to pull against the body. Two rib-finished circular openings on the front are positioned to reveal the wearer’s chest and nipples. The T-shirt print includes ‘Meadham Kirchhoff’ spelt out in cut-out newspaper lettering in the ransom note style created by Jamie Reid for the Sex Pistols in the 1970s.
      Cotton
      Archive no. 2019.1.3

      Alternative identifier(s)

      Access points

      Subject access points

      Place access points

      Name access points

      Genre access points

      Description control area

      Description identifier

      Institution identifier

      Rules and/or conventions used

      Status

      Level of detail

      Dates of creation revision deletion

      Language(s)

        Script(s)

          Sources

          Accession area