A line of licensed Orson Welles T-shirts, pillows, mugs and other merchandise featuring fan-created artwork has hit the market in time for Christmas.
TeePublic tells Wellesnet that this is “the first time ever they (the Welles estate) are licensing fan art and allowing independent artists to create new incredible art using their IP (intellectual property).”
The initial batch of two dozen designs can be found online at teepublic.com/t-shirts?query=orson-welles
So far, the apparel and merchandise has made use of Welles’ roles in two major movies Citizen Kane and The Third Man, while others featured sketches of the actor-director in his later years or quotes attributed to him. (“Nobody gets justice. People only get good luck or bad luck.“)
Some of the artwork is quite stylish, though we winced at a misspelling of his name in one of the designs, “KANE by Wells.”
The T-shirts are available in a wide variety of colors with sizes ranging from small to 5XL. Those shirts are priced at $20 and less.
Welles-themed artwork is also available on baseball shirts, hoodies, tank tops, sweat shirts, phone and laptop cases, magnets, wall art and more.
TeePublic was founded in 2011 by Adam Schwartz and Josh Abramson, who had previously co-founded Vimeo and CollegeHumor.
The company boasts that its products empower independent creators and allows them to “turn their passion into profit.”
Australia-based Redbubble acquired TeePublic for $41 million last year.
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