Bubble Tea Tee

A bubble tea tee that collides two centuries in one figure

A geisha in full kimono holding an oversized bubble tea, purple cloud scrolling behind her, GEISHA in bold rounded type with Bubble Tea curling above it and 芸者 marked at the foot. The bubble tea tee is the most openly playful thing in the collection, and the collision is the entire point.

Bubble tea arrived from Taiwan in the nineties and became a fixture of Harajuku street life almost immediately — the drink you carry while walking, photograph before drinking, and queue for on a Sunday afternoon. Putting it in the hand of a figure drawn from Edo-period woodblock prints is the kind of joke the neighbourhood has been making for thirty years: take the most reverent image available and hand it something disposable.

The drawing is chibi-proportioned — oversized head, small body, simplified features — which is the visual shorthand that makes anything read as kawaii instantly. Where it earns its detail is in the kimono: the pattern runs properly across the sleeves, the obi is drawn correctly, the kanzashi in the hair are individually shaped. The reverence is in the craft, not in the tone.

It comes in white, black, apricot, slate and piggy pink. White keeps the purple cloudwork bright and the whole panel light. Black turns the purples into something closer to neon and is the strongest of the five. Apricot warms the skin tones, slate mutes everything toward pastel, and piggy pink is the intended kawaii reading.

Printed on 240 gsm cotton, chosen because purple is the least stable colour in textile printing — it shifts toward grey on thin fabric faster than any other tone. Weight buys saturation. The cut is true oversized with a dropped shoulder and a crew neck. Take your usual size, or size down for a closer fit.

• Type: Oversized graphic tee
• Material: Heavyweight cotton, around 240 gsm
• Print: Back print — chibi geisha with bubble tea, 'GEISHA 芸者'
• Fit: Oversized, drop shoulder, crew neck, short sleeves
• Sizing: True to size for an oversized look — size down for a closer fit
• Colours: White, black, apricot, slate, piggy pink
• Wear it with: A pleated skirt, layered socks