Simple, bold typography similar to London designer Henry Holland’s signature T-shirts is used to employ a to-the-point message, “Michael Jackson Music Will Live Forever,” on this T-shirt that Tony Marrero of Boston holds near the gates of the late Jackson's former residence, Neverland Ranch, in Los Olivos, Calif. on Saturday, July 4, 2009.
Rick Bowmer / AP Photo
Within hours of Michael Jackson’s death on June 25, enterprising vendors like David Anthony of Los Angeles began printing T-shirts commemorating Michael Jackson to sell to fans. Anthony said he started the screen printing process of 2,000 T-shirts at 3 p.m. on June 25 when he learned the news of Jackson's death on Twitter. He finished printing at 2 a.m. the next day. As with many of the T-shirt designs, Anthony’s include an iconic image from the height of Jackson’s popularity in the ‘80s and text that reads (with the date of his death incorrectly printed, it should be noted), “The king of pop, rest in peace. August 29, 1958 - June 26, 2009. There'll never be another.”
Paula Bustamante, AFP / Getty Images
A 2-month-old baby wearing a T-shirt with a picture of a young Michael Jackson is held by his father in front of Jackson's house in Los Angeles on June 28.
Gabriel Bouys, AFP / Getty Images
A fan in a Michael Jackson T-shirt poses in front of a poster covered in messages outside the Staples Center in Los Angeles the day before the memorial service for Jackson, which took place on Tuesday, July 7.
Mark Ralston, AFP / Getty Images
Fans wearing commemorative T-shirts gathered outside at the Michael Jackson public memorial service held at Staples Center on July 7 in Los Angeles.
Jordan Strauss, WireImage / Getty Images
A vendor in Venice Beach, Calif., sells Michael Jackson T-shirts alongside shirts for the Los Angeles Lakers, the 2009 NBA champions. “They’re a hot commodity,” said Joe Brown of Venice Beach, who was manning the stand on June 29.
Renata Espinosa
Imamoura of Kawaguchi, Japan, stands on the Venice Beach boardwalk wearing a Michael Jackson T-shirt he bought from a nearby vendor on June 29.
Renata Espinosa
A black and white image from Dangerous-era Michael Jackson is printed on a T-shirt being sold for $8.99 at a shirt shop on the Venice Beach boardwalk in California on June 29.
Renata Espinosa
A minimalist T-shirt printed with a recent photo of Michael Jackson is displayed alongside a baroque, Ed Hardy-like design featuring Jackson during his Thriller days in the mid-'80s at a souvenir T-shirt shop in Venice Beach, Calif. on June 29.
Renata Espinosa
A T-shirt featuring the cover art for Michael Jackson’s 1987 album Bad gets a typography treatment that includes three different fonts.
Renata Espinosa
A Michael Jackson shirt printed with an image from his Dangerous tour is displayed alongside souvenir T-shirts, including one for another personality long immortalized on T-shirts, Che Guevara, in Venice Beach, Calif. A vendor on eBay, Ape Shall Not Kill Ape, took the concept a step further and combined Jackson’s portrait with a revolutionary cap in the style worn by Guevara.
Renata Espinosa
On Broadway in downtown Los Angeles, several blocks from the Staples Center where Michael Jackson’s memorial was held on July 7, a clothing vendor displays a souvenir T-shirt featuring an image of a dancing Jackson on his toes taken at the height of his popularity in the mid-'80s.
Renata Espinosa
Joanna Choy, a musician who plays keyboards and sings in the New York-based rock opera project Spray Paint Star, wears the Michael Jackson T-shirts she purchased at a memorial held for the late pop star at the Apollo Theater in New York on June 30. “I thought about getting some 1970s young Michael shirts because he has such a sweet face, but I ended up being attracted to the young adult Michael in his Off the Wall/Thriller era,” said Choy. “I might someday try to find a young Michael vintage T-shirt on eBay, but right now I'm drawn to images of Michael on the cusp of greatness, with the future still bright and ahead of him.”
Anya Garrett
