2019 is a fitting year to look back at the Legacy of Katsuhiro Otomo’s classic cyberpunk manga AKIRA. Set in 2019, the illustration and anime based on the story are now a legendary part of the sci-fi canon. One Japanese collector Satoshi Takahashi, has amassed an extraordinary collection of some of the best vintage AKIRA t-shirts released during the past 20 years.
Takahashi who is a creative director and fashion stylist in has been obsessed with the manga since it’s release in 1982. Since then he’s collected over 40 T-shirts. Finding the shirts through thrift stores and online auction sites like Yahoo Japan . He used the publication “AKIRA CLUB” which published in 1995 by Kodansha as his main reference for tracking down references on the older T-shirts. In addition, “GENGA” (2012) and Katsuhiro Otomo’s special feature “BRUTUS” (2014) were influential in guiding his search to complete his collection. Among the shirts in his collection are many of the highly sought after licensed Fashion Victim T-shirts, bootlegs, as well as more recent collaborations with Otomo and Supreme.
Click through for more photos of his collection and visit WWD Japan for the entire interview.
