THE_STRUGGLER_&_THE_DREAMER
entry_2.01_23rd_jul_23
I don’t think I can write anything without saying firstly that this whole project is dedicated to Kentaro Miura, from whom this incredible universe of Berserk originated. I don’t think a piece of writing, manga or not, has ever moved me as much as this has. His work across 30 years orchestrating moments of triumph, terrible sadness, loss, gain, heartbreak and love is nothing short of perfect.
With this being said, the second offering from dungeoncrawl33r is a 2x piece capsule collection derived from the late Miura’s work; consisting of a l/s shirt & a piece of knitwear. My design approach with these two pieces took the form of looking at the main characters from Berserk, Guts & Griffith or 「 the_struggler 」 & 「 the_dreamer 」.
THE STRUGGLER
I have been collecting Norwegian Black Metal shirts for some time & have been obsessed with their formulaic yet undeniably distinct garment design. As I was reading Berserk, I was constantly taking pictures of Miura’s incredible work and began to think how well his style of art would translate to a garment of this style. There are also so many strong pieces of instantly quotable text within Berserk too - something that would lend itself to such an interpretation.
When I began to think about how to design this piece, I wondered if I should focus on a specific arc within Berserk. I felt that whilst there are periods when you feel you know Guts, Miura is able to constantly add more and more depth throughout the story. I settled on using pieces from each arc to build an overall image of Guts.
To start anywhere but the beginning would make no sense, the image of Gut’s birth from Vol. 3 (25th Oct. 1991) is such a morbid yet emotional piece; I decided I had to include it. It became the major focus of the garment’s backprint, boxed in by a traditional Celtic band - an idea I was inspired to do by Darkthrone’s Under A Funeral Moon Longsleeve from 1993. I accompanied this with a quote from the Conviction Arc, notably the Lost Children chapter found in Vol. 16 (26th Aug. 1998) - “There’s no paradise for you to escape to”. I felt this quote alongside the image of Gut’s horrific birth explains his complex character’s backstory quite succinctly - he see’s the world as a miserable place full of pain & sadness. Rather pessimistic, but I think he get’s a pass due to everything he has been through.
Despite Gut’s outlook, his character is one that still struggles on, “[standing] without retreating in the midst of this overwhelming nightmare.” I wanted to include this quote from the Conviction Arc to also show how despite his cynical view of the world, he still won’t be beaten. The actual format of this sleeve was based on the same Darkthrone l/s that informed the backprint. I used the iconic image of the “awakened” Behelit that initiates the Eclipse from Vol. 12 (27th Sep. 1996) with this sleeve - so to add to the overall evil feeling of that print. Despite sacrifice, despite the overwhelming nightmare, he struggles on.
The Eclipse itself features most notably on the front of the shirt - how could I not include such an image.
In terms of accompanying artwork & garment processes, the logotype I drew from scratch. I did a couple of versions, some including The Band Of Sacrifice, some not, but I’m really happy with the final version.
I set out to design a black metal shirt, so I wanted the shirt to feel 30 years old, and this thought process spanned from the production of the shirt itself, to the artwork I printed on it. The shirt’s shape itself was based on a vintage Darkthrone shirt I had, and the wash was selected to soften and lighten the cotton slightly - I chose not to use an acid wash as this always seem to do too much. I felt less was more in this case, hence picking a garment wash rather than a harsh chemical one.
In terms of artwork, I drew all the cracking over the top manually to the artwork, as no photoshop brush could do exactly what I wanted. The beauty (& pain) of doing it manually meant I could focus on areas that would receive more distress over the years, and also change my approach according to colours - I know red seems to crack differently to white for example.
Once all the shirt’s were printed, I did an individual wash technique I developed myself that I can’t tell you (sorry) to make the garments feel even older; one that should mean the shirts fade quicker and just generally age better. Once this was complete I sewed all the tags (I did this after as I didn’t want them to be misshapen during the wash process).
THE DREAMER
For Griffith’s character study, there’s not actually that much to speak on. I knew instantly which artwork I wanted to use for this piece, but wanted to do something a little different that another shirt. I used Miura’s illustration from Berserk Vol. 13 (27th Mar. 1997), deciding that once colourised, it would make a bold image for a knitwear piece.
To show how intrinsically linked Gut’s & Griffith are, I used a similar structure for the back design, one that uses a message I feel also summarises Griffith’s outlook on the world. I think I could talk about Griffith as a character forever, but let’s leave that for another time.
I think technically there is more to talk about with this piece - the pattern is one I developed myself from scratch - I features extra deep drop shoulders with a shorter yet wide sleeve, alongside a boxy and cropped fit. I genuinely love how this came out and in a lot of ways is a perfect fitting knit for me.
I wanted this piece to feel as close to wool as possible without actually using it - as I do not use any animal products in my work. The result is a very heavyweight 7-gauge acrylic knit. I guarantee you will be hard pressed to find a better quality piece. It will last you forever. Promise <3
