RMIT University x POLITIX Collab

With summer in full swing, we’re amping up our love of home-grown Australian talent. Yep, we’re opening our doors at POLITIX and giving some emerging local designers the chance to build their very own summer shirting collection. This is a limited-edition capsule range, made in Australia and designed right here in Melbourne.

Each of these shirts was designed by students at RMIT University. There’s six in the collection, and they come in both short sleeve and long sleeve, featuring some seriously eye-popping patterns.

Here’s how it all began. In March 2020 we started a project with third year Bachelor of Textile design students at RMIT. The aim of the project was to give students firsthand insight into working within the design industry and arm them with some hands-on skills before they graduate.

Now more than ever, we want to foster young talent and give up- and- coming designers a chance to get their foot in the door. This project with RMIT is the first of many future collabs, designed to give students a rare chance to work inside the menswear industry— and see their shirts in stores around Australia.

We set a brief to 16 students in RMIT’s Digital Printed Textile Design class: design prints based on our themes for the summer capsule, with the best prints making it into the range. Working closely with our Head of Design, the students learned how a

typical POLITIX collection comes together. And they totally nailed the brief. They captured the energy, colour and fun of summer while keeping things sharp— just the way we like it.

Even during the lockdown, our design team combed through all the submissions, picking out the six standout prints. With Zoom calls being the new normal, we sat down with each student to get the prints ready for fabric—selecting colours and tweaking patterns, before sending them off to our factories to begin production.

We didn’t shy away from our signature attention to detail, either. These shirts come with individually designed buttons, contrast trim and (if you look closely) you’ll find the limited edition RMIT label too.

Amazing print designs from up-and-coming local talent is one thing—but we needed to make sure the fabric was spot on for summer. We’ve printed these shirts on a lightweight cotton sateen, sourced from Better Cotton Initiative,

which means your dollars are going to support Aussie farmers, too. We’ve also printed them in both short sleeve and long sleeve styles, so you’ve got some flexibility this summer.

There are plenty of options out there for shirts, but we’ve kept this collection pretty simple.
If you’re looking for a chill, weekend shirt, go for the SEARS SHORT SLEEVE with the button down collar. It’s our go-to style for summer, and it pairs easily with chino shorts of any colour. Or, if you want add some European flair to that summer outfit, go for the Cuban Collar.

With super-soft fusing and a paired back look, all this shape needs is a plain white tee and a few loose buttons. Cuban collars look great with chinos, but if you want to kick things up a notch, gofor tailored pants and sneakers. Sharp as.

Summer might be officially winding down, but we’re just getting started in 2021. So if you want to grab these limited-edition POLITIX x RMIT shirts, get in quick. They’re not going to hang about. For most of our students, it was their first time working in the menswear space, and they’ve been

able to leave their own stamp on POLITIX. We’re proud as punch to be fostering young Aussie talent, and you can expect more collabs like this down the track. We hope you enjoy wearing these as much as we’ve enjoyed making them.