Have you heard of the “top oroboros?” It’s the phenomenon wherein every brand is “seemingly making the same thing — the thing that people want,” says PIGPEN writer Heather Hurst, yet “nobody can find anything that they want.” Writer Megan Wahn fell victim to this cycle. So she set out to figure out why innovation has stagnated when it comes to the common shirt, at least at moderately accessible price-points. 

It turns out that tops are surprisingly hard to design well. Different busts, waistlines, and torso lengths make it tricky to create something that fits many people, so brands often default to mass-producible basics. Add in the industry’s obsession with sales data, and you’ve got a cycle where sameness feeds more sameness. The result? Plenty of “perfectly fine” shirts you can buy anywhere, but few worth getting excited about.

© COURTESY OF MADHAPPY

As a brand, Madhappy is incredibly successful. But as a cultural touchstone, almost no one takes it seriously. “When the industry is slamming the door in front of you all the time, that’s fucked,” cofounder Noah Raf told news director Jake Silbert on a bench outside Madhappy’s new Manhattan storefront. “The only solution, fortunately or unfortunately, is to do your own thing. I hate this expression, but it’s true: If you build it, they will come.”

Come “they” have, at least to the store. The brand’s aura is so magnetic that, as Silbert sat outside the then-unopened shop, he saw a half-dozen people attempt to enter, breaching orange traffic cones and taped-off doors in a futile but eager attempt to shop. Read on to find out how Madhappy is riding the line between popular and capital-c Cool. 

© TUNNEL CULTURE

Most recently, artist Slawn has made headlines for getting into it with KAWS. Now, the painter is literally entering the ring — on the back of 20-year-old boxer Moses Itauma for his career-defining fight this Saturday. Slawn created a look for Ituma that will turn heads, and he gave us an exclusive peek. “We both take our art seriously," Itauma says. “The way I try to box... [it’s] an art form.” 

© y-3 / MICHAEL HAUPTMAN

Speaking of sports, we also got a first look at Y-3’s new tennis collection, which adidas Tennis athletes Jessica Pegula, Iva Jovic, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Jakub Menšík will wear to the US Open in just a few short weeks. T-shirts, shorts, sweat-catching armbands, and five pairs of retooled adidas Tennis sneakers have been transformed to be sleek, stylized, and elegantly straight to the point. It’s all very Y-3, and it will all look compelling on the court.