Kosher Tatoo T-Shirts Signed and Numbered

Two young Modern Jewish Orthodox Entrepreneurs from New Jersey launched a Tattoo-inspired T-shirt collection. They promise to give a percentage of the proceeds to charity.

Orthodox Judaism forbids tattoos based on a biblical injunction. But it is kosher for tat-deprived kids to wear a "cool line of high end t-shirts with vibrant colors, done by a world famous tattoo artist."

And wait there is more.

"The initial collection is limited, signed and numbered by the artist and available at specialty stores nationwide beginning in July. A June 28 event in Chelsea (New York City) at IT NYC store will officially launch the line."

New York, NY (PRWEB) June 3, 2008 -- Ever since he was a young kid growing up in New Jersey, Jeremy Parker was fascinated with tattoos. Raised in a Modern Jewish Orthodox family, Jeremy knew he could never actually get one for himself, so when he graduated from college and entered the adult business world, he did the next best thing: he started a T-shirt Collection. Called Tees and Tats, the high end, limited edition, signed prints are based around Japanese style tattoo artwork.

Tees and Tats (http://www.teesandtats.com/), based on the Lower East Side of Manhattan and set to debut at retail in June, is a labor of love for Jeremy and his first cousin, Ben Parker. Through their intense research and network of friends and colleagues, the cousins connected with Marco Serio, one of the great Japanese style tattoo artists, and commissioned him to create seven original "prints" for their first collection of shirts.

Marco is a serious artist and these exclusive designs were inspired by the original Japanese Samurai tattoos of the early 1800s. Serio, who was born on the outskirts of Lisbon, Portugal, and moved to New York seven years ago, works out of the Invisible NYC Art Gallery on Orchard Street in Manhattan. He designed the T-shirts with the body in mind. The artwork is original and flows around the body like a tattoo. The discharge print originates on and covers the back of the shirt, an artistic twist from the standard screen prints used on most run-of-the-mill T-shirts.

Tees and Tats will produce 700 of each style, all individually numbered and signed by the artist, and begin selling them in boutiques and online this summer. Made from the finest Turkish cotton, the Tees and Tats shirts will be priced to retail for about $100. The focus of the collection is to present the shirts primarily as a work of art.

"Marco is a serious artist and these exclusive designs were inspired by the original Japanese Samurai tattoos of the early 1800s," says Jeremy Parker. "The shirts are meant to be worn as a canvas and expression of an individual's personality. That is why we are initially focused on very limited numbers."

Parker said that as the concept becomes more widely known, Tees and Tats will expand into other arenas but always as focused, special collections.

One important additional element to the Tees and Tats philosophy is their desire to give back. For every T-shirt sold in the initial collection, the company will donate a percentage of proceeds to the non-profit ArtWorks Foundation. Based in Englewood, N.J., ArtWorks provides children and young adults suffering from chronic and life-threatening illnesses, and their siblings, access to creative and performing arts programming which encourages the use of the creative process as a vehicle for healing, communication, self-expression, and personal development.