Slogan T-Shirts Are Back Just in Time for Summer 2024

Slogan T-shirts are making a comeback this summer. Are you surprised?

I’m not. The trend cycle lately has been dominated by ’00s-era mallcore, from the corporate-sleaze aesthetic that’s basically a retread of the desk-to-drinks style popularized by Express and The Limited back in the day to the resurgence of low-rise jeans and denim skirts. It was only a matter of time until the statement graphic tee, a staple for stores like Hot Topic and Urban Outfitters in the aughts, returned as well.

As with most things, celebrities are behind this “new” trend. In fact, it seems to have replaced the Notes app apology and the Instagram photo dump as their preferred way to make a statement without saying anything at all.

See Hailey Bieber weighing in on the whole nepo-baby discourse with her own graphic baby tee, Sydney Sweeney’s message for everyone still obsessed with her boobs, and Sabrina Carpenter’s cheeky reference to the controversy around filming her “Feather” music video in a Catholic church.

But wearing a slogan T-shirt can be just a fun way to show your sense of humor or pop-culture tastes. (That’s how we did it in the aughts. I’m still not over Hollister selling “Team Kristin” and “Team LC” T-shirts.) Olivia Rodrigo, for example, recently shared her answer in the great “Which Sex and the City character are you?” debate, while Zendaya used a graphic tee to promote her new tennis movie, Challengers, by wearing merch from the film.

Notably, the brazen loudness of the slogan T-shirt is a direct contrast to the white tees of last year’s quiet-luxury era.

But I wouldn’t toss your minimalist crewnecks out quite yet: Every trend comes back around eventually.