Designer Patso Dimitrov garnered a bunch of positive feedback last week when he created a series of basketball jerseys detailed with art inspired by popular hip hop albums (see a few below). His latest creation featuring images of beloved music legends Tupac Shakur, Jimi Hendrix and Kurt Cobain digitally recreated wearing items from Kanye West‘s Yeezy Season 3 has not been as universally well received.
In general it seems people don’t like the idea of designers altering images of people who have passed, especially for commercial purposes. Dr. Martens in 2007 ended up firing ad agency Satchi & Satchi after push back over an ad it created featuring four dead punk rock icons (once again including Cobain) wearing digitally created pairs of the company’s boots. In the case of Dimitrov’s work, one has to guess some of the negative reaction also is tied to the fact that he clothed the three musicians in designs by West, who as a fashion designer still has plenty of detractors.
Still, given that Dimitrov’s work is done in the name of creativity as opposed to selling product, in fairness, his designs do open one to wonder how our favorite creatives who have passed might dress today if we were lucky enough to have them among us. If Tupac wouldn’t wear Yeezy, what might he wear? Would he stick with his over-sized jeans, striped polos and six-inch wheat boots? Would Cobain still favor raggedy cardigans and Hendrix scarves and flowered silk shirts? Sadly, we’ll never know, but it’s fun to imagine.
See more of Dimitrov’s work here:
