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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Lifestyle
Joe Bromley

Zendaya’s 'I Told Ya' Challengers top and the return of the slogan tee

Challengers, Luca Guadagnino’s new steamy love-triangle tennis flick, opens in cinemas today, having already proved itself a critical ace for its A-list cast counting Zendaya, Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist. But while the grand slam film has pushed on-court style into the limelight for spring and summer (anyone for tenniscore?) its cult fashion item is a little more left field — a bold slogan t-shirt which reads, loudly, ‘I TOLD YA’. 

The Call Me By Your Name director’s latest offering was always going to draw attention to its wardrobe; he enlisted London Fashion Week star and creative director of Loewe, JW Anderson, to design them. But it is this t-shirt, pinched from historic shots of JFK Jr wearing a matching style while throwing a frisbee for his Alsatian in the early nineties, which appears to have won match point. It is worn by Zendaya and Faist in the film, as well as about town; O’Connor wore a spin off version (‘I TOLD YA’ printed on his tuxedo shirt for the UK premiere), while Anderson himself sported the grey iteration for a special Loewe screening of the film in London.

Luca Guadagnino and Jonathan Anderson attend the premiere of the movie

Now being produced for an exclusive run by Loewe, Anderson is selling the t-shirts (£225) as well as sweatshirts (£475), and has recreated the original JFK pap shorts with model lookalike Tommy Hackett for a mini-marketing campaign. In what is a meta-dupe of sorts, this luxury style tee also exists across the internet for considerably cheaper (£16.95, amazon.co.uk).

Sabrina Carpenter performs at the Coachella Stage during the 2024 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival at Empire Polo Club on April 12, 2024 (Getty Images for Coachella)

They join the pile of slogan tops which are popular as ever within luxury brands at the moment — from S.S Daley’s “SNUG AS A BUG” jumper and Stella McCartney’s white vest which read “ABOUT FUCKING TIME!”, both for autumn winter 2024, to Moschino’s Pre-Fall 24 collection which leant on the trick to spruce its knits, embroidered with the phrase “SAME OLD CHIC”, and tees, which read  “YOU CAN’T BE SERIOUS”. 

They are a celebrity favourite, too. This month alone, Sabrina Carpenter’s “jesus was a carpenter” t-shirt, worn to perform at Coachella, was an instant internet sensation, while Olivia Rodrigo wore a white vest with “Carrie Bradshaw AF” splayed across her in pink lettering for her Guts Tour in Nashville. 

The Stella McCartney Womenswear Fall/Winter 2024 at Paris Fashion Week on March 4, 2024 (Getty Images)

If you want to get political, queen of the spiky t-shirt is Katharine Hamnett, who famously wore a “58% Don't Want Pershing” top to meet then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in 1984 in protest of nuclear weapons. She has since made versions which read: “CANCEL BREXIT”, “CHOOSE LOVE” AND “SAVE OUR SEAS”.

However if its a nod to Challengers which takes the spot as bestseller this month, well, I told ya so.

(Loewe)

Relaxed fit T-shirt in cotton, £225, loewe.com

(Loewe)

Relaxed fit T-shirt in cotton, £225, loewe.com

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