Adam Jay Weissman's 10 Favorite Stüssy T-Shirt Collaborations

Breaking down the collabs that were awesome to make.

December 21, 2012

Image via Complex Original

All this week we're celebrating the history of Stüssy, featuring our extensive oral history of the brand— here's part one and part two). We managed to get Stüssy Art Director Adam Jay Weissman, responsible for their Guest Artist series, to talk about his 10 favorite artist collabs. Break it down, Adam:

"Over the last eight years or so, I've handled the majority of the artist themed collabs, as well as music ones at Stüssy as part of my job. Going back to pick my favorite ten was not the easiest thing. It's not like there is a running list on my wall. I'm sure there are a few slipping through the cracks that I'm not remembering, but this is what I came up with."

10. Stüssy x EPMD

"The 16-year-old version of me would've worn this tee to the death. This came about when we threw a party in Vegas during some trade show and had EPMD perform. I remember we scanned in the photo from my 'You Gots To Chill' 7" for the T-shirt. Their performance is up on our soundcloud for those who weren't in the house."

9. Stüssy x Turntable Lab BEATS

"Me and Blu Jemz (James Sheffield-Dewees formerly of Turntable Lab) put this together. 2 tees and a limited edition VINYL ONLY album with tracks by Flying Lotus, Nosaj Thing, Gaslamp Killer, Lukid,and Strategy. I even have a song on there too (Sample208 "SK8"). I think most of those tracks were never released anywhere else but that record. A lot of those guys blew up since its release in 2008, so I'm sure the vinyl is worth something if you can find one."

8. Stüssy x Real Deal

"This is one of the more recent collabs we've done. Real Deal is one of the most underground LA comic books ever. Not many people know about it, but the ones who do, lose their shit over it. It was featured in the very first issue of Grand Royal Magazine and most recently in Vice. Lawrence Hubbard's art is insane. There are a lot of illustrators who have copied his style throughout the years, but no one can touch him. "

7. Stüssy X Jon Naar

"We were lucky enough to hook up with Jon Naar and use some iconic photos from his seminal book The Faith in Graffiti for his Artist Series. The photos speak for themselves. I was lucky enough to go to NY and spend time with Jon digging through his archives. I also shot a little documentary about the project, riding around on the subway with Jon and camera crew going back to all the historical spots that were featured in the book."

6. Stüssy X Keiichi Tanaami

"It always amazes me when I reach out to someone, who I feel is out of my reach and they agree to do an artist series. Keiichi is a legend. On my very first trip to Tokyo, I was in Parco Books and stumbled across a book of his. It was all in Japanese, but I bought it for the art. 8 years later I was in Tokyo shooting a documentary for the project with Keiichi in his studio. Everything came full circle. His artist series releases in March 2013."

5. Stüssy X Marvel - TODD JAMES

"I'm so glad this made it through Marvel's legal department without too much hassle. In the end, I think Todd had to remove some cleavage and her butt that could be seen between her thighs. The notes from Marvel's lawyers were funny."

4. Stüssy x Beavis and Butthead

"Beavis and Butthead wearing Stüssy tees."

3. Stüssy X Liquid Liquid

"The band Liquid Liquid was born out of the same New York that birthed what we consider 'street art' today. Basquiat used to jam with them. We collaborated using classic album art and show flyers. This came out around the time of their DOMINO RECORDS anthology Slip In And Out Of Phenomenon."

2. Stüssy x Kate Gibb

"This was the first time, out of many, I worked with Kate Gibb. She is one of my favorites."

1. Stüssy World Tour - KAWS

"2006's World Tour project changed the game. I think there was 42 artists all doing their version of Stüssy's quintessential World Tour design. Jose Parla, Todd James, ESPO, Mister Cartoon, Geoff McFetridge, Brent Rollins, Eric Elms, Futura, Kostas, KR, Haze just to name a few. I selected Kaws' as my favorite of the bunch. I like how he jumbled up all the letters of the cities. I remember sitting around trying to figure out Ryeicyjets. Jersey City."