Let's spill the T

In fashion, all eyes are now on an unlikely garment: The T-shirt. It's a tool for micro-activism, a status symbol, a literal sign of the times, a technical marvel. How did something so casual become so woke?

- Noor Anand Chawla

For years, it was all about jeans. The fit mattered. The label on the back meant everything. We obsessed over the right kind of blue, how high it rose, where it frayed, and where it faded. Now, a long-ignored garment is front and centre: The T-shirt. And fashion is only part of the story.

It’s back as a symbol of activism. All this year, Pedro Pascal wore T-shirts that read Protect the Dolls, drawing attention to transpersons' rights. It’s the IRL status message of our time. At IPL 2025, MS Dhoni wore a T-shirt bearing Morse Code that fans translated to read One Last Time, suggesting that this might be his final season. It's prime real-estate for a micro-trend. H&M's DIMES SQ T-shirt sold out in two days last week. In-the-know cool hunters snapped it up because it referenced a much-memed NYC neighbourhood that is popular with Manhattan’s right-wing incels.

It’s broken into political spheres too. Rahul Gandhi rocked a plain white tee all through his Bharat Jodo Yatra in 2022-23 (even when it was freezing). His party, the Indian National Congress, has a White T-shirt Movement in support of marginalised groups. In February, when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived at the White House in a T-shirt, a reporter asked him why he hadn't worn something more respectful. Zelenskyy’s response, “I'll wear a suit when the war is over” went viral so hard, supporters around the world printed it on (what else ) their own T-shirts. And it's how celebrities are clapping back at trolls. Karan Johar and Hailey Bieber have worn Nepo Baby tees with cheeky nonchalance.

“It’s fast fashion in the literal sense - fast to respond to what's happening,” says actor Hamid Barkzi.