Chrome Butterfly Hoodie

A chrome butterfly hoodie where the grid runs the full width

A butterfly with iridescent wings suspended inside a perspective grid, TRAPPED running vertically down the right edge, small technical marks scattered across the panel. The chrome butterfly hoodie gives the grid the width it needs, and that changes how the whole image works.

A perspective grid only reads as space if it has room to converge. Compress it and the lines look like a pattern; extend them across a wide panel and the eye accepts a corridor, a floor, a room. The butterfly is only trapped if the viewer believes in the volume around it — which means the size of the garment is doing narrative work here, not just carrying a picture.

The two halves of the artwork make opposite demands on the fabric. Wing detail needs subtle colour transitions across a small area; grid lines need hard straight edges running the full width of the panel. Most surfaces give you one or the other. A dense, stable base is the only way to get both at once, which is why this design was drawn for the heavier piece and why it looks poorly printed almost everywhere else.

It comes in black only, and that is a design decision rather than a limitation. This artwork depends on contrast against a dark ground: the lighter tones behave like light rather than like ink, and on any pale base the whole composition loses the depth it was drawn with.

Completed in brushed fleece, 300 to 380 gsm, with a lined hood, ribbed cuffs and hem and a kangaroo pocket. Wash it cold and inside out: heat pulls a knit out of true, and on a design built from straight converging lines that distortion is the first thing anyone notices.

Take your usual size for the intended drop, or size down for a closer fit. Wide trousers and a small bag below — this is the Y2K graphic that sits most easily on an oversized cut rather than fighting it.

• Type: Oversized graphic hoodie
• Material: Brushed fleece, 300–380 gsm
• Print: Back print — chrome butterfly in a wireframe grid, 'TRAPPED'
• Fit: Oversized, drop shoulder, lined hood, kangaroo pocket
• Sizing: True to size for an oversized look — size down for a closer fit
• Colours: Black
• Wear it with: Wide trousers, a small shoulder bag