Vice Style

Considering that their whole aesthetic is based on the seemingly random collages thousands of us devote our days to on tumblr, it's odd that Untitled have the least Google-able name, like, ever. Tiago Rodrigues and Rita Cabral e Silva are likely to not give a single fuck about that, though, because the Portuguese couple started the label by accident as part of RAP/ RAP/ RAP, an art music project comprising of spooky songs that are terrifying in that ambient horror movie way, so optimizing their search engine results probably wasn't at the top of their agenda. 

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Untitled t-shirt, adidas pants, Nike shoes, vintage bracelets; Untitled t-shirt, Primark skirt, vintage shoes, necklaces, and tights

VICE: So, Untitled was never a legitimate effort to start up a t-shirt brand, right?
Rita Cabral e Silva: No, not at all. Actually, the first t-shirt we made was for our music project RAP/ RAP/ RAP. Untitled is the visual image of RAP/ RAP/ RAP and RAP/ RAP/ RAP is the soundtrack to Untitled, if you understand what I mean. We think of both projects as one whole.

CFT&CM by RAP/ RAP/ RAP

So the whole RAP/ RAP/ RAP thing started out as an all-encompassing art project and has accidentally turned into a brand, basically?
Yeah. Untitled is to RAP/ RAP/ RAP what ripped skinny jeans and leather jackets are to punk rock, they are one combined thing, but people started responding well to the t-shirts so we started selling them. We actually only made that first shirt because we thought it would be cool to have something we designed to wear while we played gigs as RAP/ RAP/ RAP, but when we saw that the designs were popular, we decided to extend the idea into a whole range of shirts.

What was the idea behind that first RAP/ RAP/ RAP shirt with the gold and guns?
Well, the gold statue is of Dionysus, and it's something that's absolutely iconic to the two of us so we just put it on there. Then, the guns relate to the world we're living in today, so it's kind of connecting what we like with something that's going on today. 

Untitled t-shirt, American Apparel skirt, Cassette Playa x Lucozade rollerskates

Why exactly do you think you chose fashion as your next art medium?
We just wanted to try something different because we'd already used all the other mediums that we wanted to use. RAP/ RAP/ RAP, as in just the music, was actually how the project started, it just so happens that the t-shirts—which were kind of an afterthought—turned out to be really popular.

That sounds more like you just wanted to make some shirts to me. So where does the art come in? As in, where's the distinction between creating an art piece and designing a t-shirt?
I don't think there is much of a difference, to be honest. The creative process is much the same as, say, working with a canvas, searching for images, constructing the collages, and piecing it altogether. The only difference is that the end result is something that you can wear, which, I guess provides a distinction because that piece of art is now being worn and always changing depending on how the shirt is worn, rather than just a static canvas on a wall.

Untitled t-shirt, Dans La Vie skirt, Vans shoes and glasses

So, other than that, do you feel like fashion and art are pretty much one and the same now?
Yeah, the concept of fashion is very much linked with art—we need fashion to express ourselves, our way of thinking, and our creativity. The clothes that a person is wearing are almost like a summary of who the person is, you know? So, if you're adjusting your clothes to suit the projection of yourself that you want to put out there, that counts as art because you're creating it, and you're putting your ideas out there for the world to interpret in their own ways.

What about the meaning of your t-shirts? Is there a big artistic statement behind all of them?
No, they're more like jokes rather than anything overly serious. Like a sarcastic statement that could represent something, but could also just look funny and be made for completely personal reasons. For example, Tiago put those Nike sneakers on the Suzuki shirt purely because they were on his Christmas wishlist, and the other stuff, like the Suzuki badge and Internet Explorer logo, are things that inspire him, so he just decided to put them all on there. Then, on the slightly more statement side of things, the Gaddafi Doom shirt comes from an in-joke that we have with some friends about the seriousness of reality and everything we see in the news and we just wanted to make all of that depressing stuff a bit more fun, but I'm sure not everyone will get that.

So they exist to confuse people?
No, it's just that I don't think many people will get the irony of it, you know? Some people get it, some people don't, but we'll still do it anyway because I think we're making shirts that, even if you don't get them, are aesthetically pleasing enough for you to like them anyway.

Untitled T-shirt, Topman jeans, vintage bracelets

Where is that aesthetic from? Are they all supposed to look like a tumblr page?
Not necessarily, no, but tumblr is definitely very important. We have a lot of followers on there, so we try to appeal to them as much as we can. It's also interesting because tumblr is one of the best ways of understanding what people like. It's immediately responsive because there are always people online, so it's very easy to judge the reception to our designs.

There seems to be more and more of a cross-over between the art direction of blogs and people's dress sense.
Yeah, we definitely do that, to an extent. I mean, online there are so many choices of what you want to feature on your blog, you have to be very selective about what you post. I think that works the same in reality, art directing your personal appearance from a massive choice of influences and those influences are usually the same things that you would post on your blog, you know? For example, if you look at the Untitled tumblr, you should immediately have a connection with us on some level and imagine what we would be like and what we would wear without ever seeing us for real.

Untitled t-shirt, Cheap Monday jeans, Nike shoes, Bolshie hat, vintage scarf, bracelets and socks

Very true, I just saw a photo of you and it's exactly how I expected you to look. Spooky. Would people in Portugal wear your shirts, do you think?
Ha ha, definitely not, no. People here aren't ready for this kind of design yet. I know it's been said before, but we're more influenced by stuff going on all around the world and the internet is our portal to that. It's amazing to be able to stumble across something that originated miles away and use that as inspiration. Even the most fashionable Portuguese guys just wear Fred Perry, black Wayfarers, that kind of thing. Definitely not shirts with Gaddafi on them.

 

PHOTOS: HARRISON THANE
STYLIST: SAM VOULTERS
ASSISTANT: ALI CARMAN
MODELS: SOPHIE AND TANIEL AT STUDIO BOYO
TEXT: JAMIE CLIFTON
RETOUCHING BY HARRISON THANE AND CHRISTOPHER ROWLAND

TAGGED: Rap Rap Rap, Untitled, Shirt Heads