Rising fashion talent: T-shirts the focus

Stephen Richardson in one of his own T-shirt designs. Picture / Babiche Martens

"I feel like a bit of a cliche," says designer Stephen Richardson. Why? Because he's a graphic designer who started a clothing label and now he's mainly making T-shirts with pictures and words on them, that's why. So typical, you might groan.

"But I try not to think about that too much," Richardson says. "After all, our generation has grown up with T-shirts with messages on them. It's just that mine are a bit more lighthearted."

They're also more interesting. Sure, they're just T-shirts, but there's something about his works of art on cotton that manage to combine an almost naive kind of street style with urbane sophistication.

The down-to-earth Richardson - his mother modelled in the 60s and he has done some posing for the camera himself - started his label with the tongue-firmly-in-cheek title Richardson Pour Homme, to make men's clothes he'd want to wear himself. But along the way business plans going pear-shaped and the fact that Richardson's graphic design and art took off, meant he didn't have enough time to dedicate to the fledgling business.

Although he says that one day he'd like to design a full-on collection again and possibly even put together a sort of artists collective to make even better and more exciting shirts, the Richardson Pour Homme collection is mainly made up of fine T-shirts, an accessory or two, a rather goodlooking website and some interesting art projects. But remember, more than a few fashion labels have started with a simple shirt or two so dedicated followers of fashion ought to keep an eye out.