From Ariana Grande to the Kardashians and, erm Donna Air, we’ve seen, and immediately ignored, many a celebrity fashion range. But, in the past few years, there has been a rise in a new kind of celebrity fashion line: the fashionable merch line. Kanye West started it with his 2013 Yeezus tour merch that featured bomber jackets, hoodies and T-shirts, all emblazoned in a Metallica inspired Yeezus logo. Justin Bieber’s Purpose tour merch went for a Metallica logo too, causing queues round the block when it launched in collaboration with V Files (the range also ended up famous for this blatant typo). Meanwhile, away from the much abused heavy metal fonts, Beyoncé has the Beyhive scrambling for lemon emoji caps and sloganed sportswear. Forget the band T-shirt with tour dates; modern merch is a streetwear line in itself.
The latest solo popstar to get in on the act is Zayn Malik, who has launched a new collection on Zaynmalikstore.com. The 23-piece range features T-shirts, tops and bomber jackets decorated with a melange of Zayn-specific imagery, from selfies to Urdu script and, yep, more metal-inspired fonts. Inspired by vintage band T-shirts, Malik has enlisted the help of Mark Wilkinson, the artist behind the artwork for Iron Maiden’s last record, to create a T-shirt that depicts him as a renegade escaping from a burning city. A metaphor for his escape from One Direction, perhaps?
Malik is no stranger to fashion – he did, after all, wear a Versace robot arm to the Met ball earlier this year, and he’s become known for his fashion forward streetwear looks. The majority of the range is black and white (much like his Instagram account), with bomber jackets, hoodies and long sleeved T-shirts decorated in Urdu script. It’s very reminiscent of Supreme’s Arabic collection in 1999, and is a nod to futuristic sportswear tops made by Hood by Air. Speaking to Vogue, Malik said: “My family is from Pakistan, so having artwork in Urdu has huge significance to me.” We’re sure there’s some truth to that, but there’s another genius at work: people love nothing more than adorning their body with a language they can’t read. The Urdu says “mind” on the front and “Zayn’ on the sleeves. “Mind” is pronounced Zehn in Urdu, which sounds a bit like Zayn. Deep.
With more drops scheduled next month, and items sold out already, the line is set to be a success. And with prices starting as low as £25, it’s a snip compared with many streetwear brands.
