Aaron LaCrate Revisits HBO’s ‘The Wire’ with T-Shirt Collection

HBO's gritty cop drama 'The Wire' is no longer in production, but die-hard fans of the show, fear not -- you can now wear your pride. HBO has tapped DJ and fashion designer Aaron LaCrate to design a host of t-shirts based on the iconic show. Out now on the Baltimore native's Milkcrate Athletics clothing line, the first "season" of t-shirts features the likes of Omar, Avon Barksdale and the basic 'Wire' logo.

"It's a real basic introduction to draw people back in," LaCrate tells the BoomBox. "The show's on BET everyday but it's still wanting to draw people back into the project. And kinda like how the show is, [I want] to draw people deeper and deeper in with design."
Although he didn't collaborate with any of the cast or crew members, LaCrate says that HBO gave him full access to the archives, including a bevy of behind the scenes footage to help him along. "The Wire' was the ultimate post-sign for me," he says of the shows depiction of his hometown. "It's a very street town, especially when I was growing up here. Growing up in the 80s and 90s, it was really bad, but they're making a big effort to shape up the town. I have this whole gutter music campaign because that's what I grew up in and around."

LaCrate says he's looking forward to getting into "Season 2" of the t-shirt campaign, as it will hopefully coincide with the Season 2 of 'The Wire,' which took place at the Baltimore docks. "I had a lot of family members that worked on the docks. A lot of that was shot in and around where I grew up. It was great when HBO came and did the same thing. It was the perfect portrayal. I kept having to explain to people where [Baltimore] was."

In addition to working on his 'Wire' clothing line, LaCrate is currently involved in a host of production activities for 2010, including working with fellow Baltimore native MZ Streamz' upcoming EP. Milkcrate Athletics 'The Wire' t-shirt collection is available exclusively via Karmaloop.com.