A brief history of Swan brand T-Shirts

Classic Swan brand T-shirts have been on Pearl River Mart’s shelves for over 40 years. We recently talked to Pearl River Mart owner Mrs. Chen about the history of these shirts.

"When we started selling them at the store, we sold mainly to overseas Chinese," says Mrs. Chen. "They remember this brand just the way they remember Pearl River Bridge soy sauce. They say, 'Wah, this is back, I want to wear it.' So they buy it."

"Gradually other types of customers found the shirt and fell in love with the quality. It works so well with screen-printing. The material is very fine compared to Hanes T-shirts or Fruit of the Loom. Artists and designers come to us and buy dozens and dozens, large quantities, to do their own prints. You would see at a trade show at that time a whole section of T-shirt printing. You would see people display the same Swan brand T-shirt with different designs. And they got the basic T-shirt from us."

Pearl River Mart founder Mr. Chen swears by them too. "He wears one every day," says Mrs. Chen. "In the summertime he wears the Swan brand tank top." (The tank tops are currently sold out.)

The shirts are still made in a Shanghai factory. "Even now it's such a popular T-shirt in China. They keep everything with the same look. The packaging is exactly the same as from 50 years ago."

The Swan brand T-shirt is available at our Soho store and our website. Check out even more of Pearl River Mart's classic items.