In the early days of hip hop, a trio of graffiti artists from New York known as the Shirt Kings created a following with their custom air brushed t-shirts. In the Eighties, Edwin “Phade” Sacasa, Rafael “Kasheme” Avery, and Clyde “Nike” Harewood began transferring their passion for graffiti from the surface of trains to the surface of t- shirts.
Fabric became their new canvas and soon enough, the Shirt Kings were translating street culture and street art onto clothes, becoming the first to commercialize their graffiti. Some may say this was the birth of the streetwear concept.
Nike Basketball collaborated with Phade, one of the original members to create art for the summer 2017 basketball collection. With the airbrushing and the DIY aesthetic being popular, we wanted to go to the original source to create the most authentic version for our athletes and branded t-shirts.