T-shirt festival fetes self-expression

SINGAPORE'S unofficial national costume, the T-shirt, now has a festival of its own. Tuesday marked the start of the first Singapore T-shirt Festival showcasing the T-shirt as a medium for self-expression and its influence on street culture.

The festival, which comprises a month-long exhibition, as well as a marketplace, talks and workshops, is organised by Singaporean design practitioner Joseph Chiang of Monster Gallery together with Legendary Social Tees, a T-shirt printing company. "We were chatting about T-shirts and what we can do with them, and then the topic developed into how T-shirts are a form of social media, even before the topic became hot," says Mr Chiang. "Think about it - T-shirts are worn as a statement, which is what going on social media is about too. So T-shirts are really a prelude to social media." With this in mind, Mr Chiang roped…