Back in my day, living in New York City, there were only three places to get metal band tees: Generation Records in the City, the now-shuttered Zig Zag Records in Brooklyn or at an actual metal show. For metalheads in the suburbs, it seems like Spencer Gifts or Hot Topic were the only option, but not anymore.
I randomly ended up at a K-mart, in need of some house supplies and noticed Motley Crue and AC/DC shirts on sale for $5. Department stores are noticing metalheads more and more.
Last year, big time department store H&M released a line of metal logo t-shirts that were actually reasonably priced. This led to quite the backlash from the metal community, as we covered in length. Other designers took notice… including Diesel, who sold this overpriced leather jacket with fake metal patches on it.
One company that realized the marketing power of metal early was Urban Outfitters. In 2013, they sold a ludicrously gawdy leather jacket with Megadeth and Dio logos on it for almost $400.
I guess they've decided to expand their metal collection, as their website is littered with metal band tees, all overpriced. Here's a men's AC/DC shirt for $54. A vintage Black Sabbath tee was going for $200 and is sold out! A men's Danzig muscle tee… only $54… the same price as the AC/DC shirt but with no sleeves! No discounts for less cotton from Urban Outfitters.
UO didn't forget about the women either, offering a female Danzig muscle tee for only $64 or a Slayer t-shirt for the more reasonable, but still over-priced $39.
Will this trend stop? Highly unlikely. Whether you like it or not, metal is a part of the mainstream, and a big way some of these bands make their money is via licensing. Department stores are paying big money to these artists to license their likeness, and in an era where album sales are down, merch sales are all these artists can really look forward to.
[Thanks for the tip, Michelle Tueme]
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