New York City vintage store owner Cesar Padilla has a new book out, Ripped: T-Shirts from the Underground
, that examines the history of the post-punk art and music scene of the ’70s and ’80s through the prism of over 200 rare t-shirts.
He recently explained the origin of this vast and enviable collection to Cool Hunting: “I grew up in Southern California and was raised by my two sisters. As a consequence, I was on the Sunset Strip at an early age, attending rock shows and being exposed to many things a ten-year-old wouldn’t normally have been exposed to. In 1988, I went traveling to South America. When I returned, my mother had thrown away my rock T-shirt collection, documenting this misspent California youth. Since then, I have been searching for the Holy Grail. This collection is clearly a direct result of such pillaging.”
View some of his favorite finds after the jump.
All images copyrighted Ripped: T-Shirts from the Underground, by Cesar Padilla, Universe, 2010.