Launched in November 2009, trippytaka is an Australian owned and operated clothing label with one goal; to provide Australian car enthusiasts with top-quality mens t-shirts featuring the coolest designs of their favourite cars.
The Story
...we're not trying to sell you an identity; you already live and breathe cars.
For more than 20 years, we searched for top-quality men's shirts with stylish designs featuring Holdens, Fords and Valiants. We've bought the odd one here and there, only to have the shirt shrink, fade, change shape or turn to cardboard after only a few washes. It's always seemed that if you're a car nut, clothing labels don't want to know you. Not anymore.
Fed up with the lack of well designed, good quality car shirts, we decided to start trippytaka.
Here at trippytaka, we're not trying to sell you an identity; you already live and breathe cars. We're just trying to sell cool shirts to the people who relate to them most.
...our designs focus on the features that make each car unique.
You'll notice that our designs focus on the features that make each car unique. It's our goal to showcase the beauty that lies in the small details; the lines of a '60s designed grille, GTS flutes, or a GT 'shaker' scoop. True fans will recognise the origin of the designs instantly as Monaro, Falcon, Torana or Charger, but it'll take most people a while to get it. And that's the point.
The Name
trippytaka [pronounced "trippy-tah-ka"] is a poorly spelled reference to one of our favourite shows, Monkey Magic, a cheesy 80s Japanese TV series. The cult classic, which featured a really catchy theme song and laughably bad English dubbing, had a character in it named Tripitaka. This character was a young male priest who was apparently played by a chick, meaning our label is basically named after a ladyboy. Avid fans of the show might also notice that our logo is a derivative of Monkey's crown.
Andrew Andrew is the wordsmith of the team. A motoring journalist for the last 10 years, he'll be regularly updating the blog. You’ll find interviews with race drivers and key industry people, news, in the builds, feature cars, show reportage, photography and other random entries.
Rhea Rhea is the designer behind the shirts. As a visual person, she appreciates muscle cars from an aesthetic point of view, holding much respect for the timeless simplicity in bold GTS stripes and the strong geometric lines in a well-designed grille.
Fatty Fatty is the black cat Rhea and Andrew rescued from the RSPCA. He goes by various names, including Radioactive Man, Fatnuts, Fatsticks, Chunky and Black Cat.
Andrew is the wordsmith of the team. A motoring journalist for the last 10 years, he'll be regularly updating the blog. You’ll find interviews with race drivers and key industry people, news, in the builds, feature cars, show reportage, photography and other random entries.
Rhea is the designer behind the shirts. As a visual person, she appreciates muscle cars from an aesthetic point of view, holding much respect for the timeless simplicity in bold GTS stripes and the strong geometric lines in a well-designed grille.
Fatty is the black cat Rhea and Andrew rescued from the RSPCA. He goes by various names, including Radioactive Man, Fatnuts, Fatsticks, Chunky and Black Cat.
Mens
Womens
Kids