Thursday, July 12, 2012

Retro to the Core

The year was 1986. Steve Jobs had been forced out of his company 12 months prior and Apple was ready to get some real money flowing in now that the dirty hippie had been ejected and corporate sensibilities could finally take their rightful place in the fledgling fruit company. Up to that point Apple had already been known for their habit of creating custom t-shirts, which generally featured the names of projects employees were working on, or corporate events that had recently transpired (there's a whole book on it). But now Apple was in the thick of the "me" decade and what's more egotistical (and ideal for providing a low maintenance revenue stream on the side) than a full-featured, top-to-bottom clothing line? Absolutely nothing. Ask Mary-Kate and Ashley. To be honest, I haven't been able to determine just how long Apple's initial forray into custom duds lasted or how extensive the venture became, but you can still find selected bits of apparel branded with the iconic logo at various online outlets, just maybe a bit more tastefully designed than the dreck they tried to schlep on us back in the Max Headroom days. Check out the scans below for some selected cuts from the original catalog.




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