Built By Wendy has always been, first and foremost, an independent clothing label, though the eponymous designer Wendy Mullin received a lot of attention in the mid-90's for her line of cool guitar straps. Her recent clothing collection includes a line of graphic t-shirt designs that are based on the most original concept we've come across in the universe of designer tees.

Mullins' well-made and limited t-shirts and clothes (she creates collections for both men and woman) are sought after and sported by the hipster-celeb-indie-music-style jet set, including downtown indie rock luminaries Sonic Youth and hip-hop trio the Beastie Boys, who sported a Wendy tee design in a recent photo shoot for the cover of Japanese magazine Warp (see above image).

The shirts are silk-screened with illustrated images from popular teen exploitation films, mostly from the 70's and 80's. Or favorite is the design based on the film "Risky Business," which show Rebecca Demornay's sexy, pouty face staring out as a Chicago L train rushes by in the background. Trés cool.

Several designs riff off the 70's movie franchise "The Bad News Bears." Another design is a collection of faces of four bloodied movie characters from four different films, including Adam Baldwin from "My Bodyguard" and Bud Cort from "Harold and Maude."

Mullin's runs a small stylish boutique on one of the quietest, most overlooked and uneventful streets in lower Manhattan, Centre Market Place, behind the old police building and horse stables in the borderland between SoHo, Nolita and Chinatown. Another store is planned for Los Angeles. Meanwhile Wendy is busy designing a special boutique line of clothes for Wrangler jeans, Called Wrangler 47.

--The Kid From Kyoto

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