Graffiti — once considered the art of choice for only inner-city structures, rap CDs, and boardwalk T-shirt shops — is now a must-have when it comes to suburban, overnight-camp-bound tween fashion. The colorful art is jazzing up hoodies, sweatpants, pajamas, blankets, even the trunks the campers pack their clothes in.
Kids are into the old-school-style fat letters so much that suburban boutiques have set up airbrush stations in their stores for the young customers — and their parents. Madonna has seen his business double in the three years he’s been working with local children’s boutiques during camp season.
"Customization, it’s all about customization," said Andrea Taitelman, co-owner of B’tween Friendz, a children’s boutique in Dresher, Montgomery County. Taitelman and her partner, Christin Goldstein, opened their store in the fall with a 10-by-15-foot graffiti bar at its center. "It has to do with kids’ expressing themselves. They really like putting a little bit of themselves into the design."
The trend, says Down to Earth Kids owner Pam Katz, started about three years ago, growing each year. She started hosting graffiti parties in March so her chic campers could get their items personalized on the spot. Airbrushing makes up more than 40 percent of her camp business — which includes Color War memorabilia, friendship bracelets, and return-address labels — with prices ranging from $45 to about $75, depending on the piece of clothing and the size and detail of the design.
The bubble letters are back for a few reasons — we’re embracing 1980s fashions, especially all things neon, bold, and bright. Tweens also are into DIY fashion, said Caletha Crawford, a New York City-based children’s-apparel consultant.
"At this age, they crave things with their names on it, but monograming is a bit too stuffy," Crawford said. "This puts the power in their own hands, and it has a little edge to it. It’s something that’s rebellious — but really isn’t."
When Madonna started working with camp apparel, customers wanted hearts and unicorns.
"Now the young kids are turning to an edgier, urban, ’80s look," he said, although peace signs and smiley faces still have a place with young fashionistas.
Also, many of today’s tweens are the children of Generation Xers, and there are few things nearer and dearer to our heart than the Golden Age of hip-hop. I still have a circa-1985 sweatshirt with the words "Baby B" — I went by Beth back then — in black and red bubble letters. I got the shirt from the Colosseum Mall — Jamaica Queens’ equivalent of the Gallery.
"MTV was our access to hip-hop," said Michele Seidman, 45, the mother of Jared, 7, who got a towel personalized with airbrush art, which he will take this summer to Philadelphia 76ers Basketball Camp and to a day camp in Blue Bell. "Our kids are relating to it in their own way."
Like any other teen trend, the main reason graffiti is enjoying a comeback is old-fashioned peer pressure — combined with Twitter, said Tina Wells, who owns the Buzz Report.
About five years ago, Long Island kids were the first to show up at Pennsylvania camps like Green Lane, Canadensis, Nock-A-Mixon, and Starlight with the bold, personalized clothing, which they got as favors at bar and bat mitzvahs and birthday parties.
"Then they put it out on Twitter," Wells said. "Twitter has made things happen so fast with this group of kids. It immediately validates it, and it makes all of the other kids want it so fast."
I’ll be thanking the fashion gods there was no Twitter around when Baby B was little.
Contact Elizabeth Wellington at 215-854-2704 or ewellington@phillynews.com, or follow on Twitter @ewellingtonphl. Read her blog, "Mirror Image," at philly.com/mirrorimage.
