Pitchfork

In what's become an annual holiday tradition, the folks at France's Lacoste invite a non-designer to mock up a spin on the company's iconic polo shirt (you know, with the crocodile). This year, R.E.M. frontguy Michael Stipe became the third to take on the sartorial task, creating a shirt that hinges on, as the product description puts it, "a monumental two tone photographic image" of a crowd that "contrasts against colors of the Lacoste petit pique fabric that both obliterates detail and accentuates silhouette." Check it:



To my eyes, it looks kind of like a cross between M.I.A.'s design aesthetic and a Hawaiian shirt, but I have at least two holes in my button-down today that I know of, so I should probably refrain from further comment. The polo comes in several colors-- alas, no violent green-- for ladies and fellas, and it's packaged in an LP-inspired sleeve. They're only making a few thousand of these things, and they're shipping now.

R.E.M. are currently in South America, with a few more dates to go before their massive tour finally winds down. The deluxe reissue of their debut LP Murmur-- which sounds awesome, by the way-- is due November 25 from I.R.S./UMe.

R.E.M.:

11-10 São Paulo, Brazil - Via Funchai
11-11 São Paulo, Brazil - Via Funchai
11-14 Lima, Peru - Jockey Club del Peru
11-16 Caracas, Venezuela - Festival
11-18 Mexico City, Mexico - Auditorio Nacional