Fashion

You Will Want Everything From This Collection

by Erin Mayer

Oh Forever 21, I just can't quit you! Each year I get older and think "Maybe I'll stop shopping at Forever 21 for real this time." But each year the fast-fashion purveyor gets the best of me with adorable prints and mouth-watering prices. And they've done it again, this time with a Jean-Michael Basquiat and Keith Haring collection. I want everything, and you probably will too.

Forever 21's Artist Series is a line of cropped tanks and body con dresses printed with iconic images from Basquat and Haring's artwork. While I'm not sure the artists would be too thrilled to see their work on stretchy cotton garments meant to be worn by faux-counterculture teenagers, this kind of thing is what Forever 21 does best. I mean, did you see the Comic Collection they did awhile back? Super cool.

Plus the art collection is really cute and way more interesting than the floral prints that decorate most summer clothes. The little subversive inside me is freaking out right now, saying "wouldn't you just be the coolest girl at the beach in a Keith Haring-print bandeau?" Yes, I would be.

Of course, what's troubling is that Forever 21 doesn't make an effort on their website to tell customers anything about the actual artists, who both died young (Haring of AIDS-related complications and Basquiat of a heroin overdose), according to The Gloss, and made a huge splash on the art world. This could have been a great educational opportunity, but alas. Clair Knebel of Teen Vogue sums it up in a deceptively simple manner:

If you don't know who they are, a crash course: Basquiat and Haring are famous for shaking up the American art scene with bold, graphic, sometimes in-your-face and sometimes really fun works. And now you get to wear them on your sleeve.

Okay, sure. Do some research if you want to learn more about these two incredible artists. But for now, make the wannabe art-girl in your soul jump for joy with the best pieces from the Forever 21 collection, pictured below.

Images: Forever 21