Mambo Loud Shirts One Damned Classic After Another
Artist
Jim Mitchell
Publisher
Mambo Graphics Pty Ltd
Date1999
Object number00030712
NamePoster
MediumColour lithograph on paper
DimensionsOverall: 990 x 690 mm, 0.18 kg
ClassificationsPosters and postcards
Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from Mambo Graphics Pty Ltd
DescriptionThis poster designed by Jim Mitchell, a Mambo contributing artist, promotes their 1999 Loud Shirt range. The Loud Shirt was created by Mambo in the mid 1990s as an Australian response to the flamboyant Hawaiian shirt. Mambo devised a history for the popular Loud Shirt claiming it evolved from the unique culture of the 'Australian Islanders’ and was informed by Australia's relaxed and carefree lifestyle and hot weather.
The result is a colourful range of men's loose fitting Hawaiian inspired shirts with trademark Australian imagery created by Mambo artists.
HistoryMambo Graphics is an Australian surf and streetwear company founded in 1984 by Dare Jennings and Andrew Rich and has since become an international design and fashion empire. Mambo began with board shorts and t-shirts and typically has a bold and bright graphic style that owes much to the cheeky and impious sense of humour of its contributing artists.
Mambo prides itself on anti-conformist sentiments, reinterpreting classic Australian imagery in often surrealist or dream-like landscapes. The humour and irreverence towards social conventions reflects surf culture's alternative, carefree lifestyle, and poses a challenge to the authority of mainstream culture.SignificanceThis poster is representative of work by the Mambo artist Jim Mitchell. The Loud Shirt along with t-shirts was a mainstay of Mambo merchandising.
