We caught up with Cristina Spiridakis in Athens, Greece. Cristina is the costume designer who purchased white t-shirts from Self Edge 3 years ago and put Carmy (aka, Jeremy Allen White) from The Bear in them for the pilot episode, three seasons in and Carmy is still wearing the same t-shirts in every episode. Not just any plain white t-shirt, one that created such an internet frenzy that we believe it changed the public perception of a white t-shirt for the first time since Marlon Brando wore one in A Streetcar Named Desire in 1951. Cristina’s t-shirt choice created years of endless “What t-shirt is Carmy wearing in The Bear?” news articles, hundreds of memes, online searches for the tee across reddit/forums/discords, a wild sales boom for nearly all high-end blank white t-shirts, endless brands cashed in by using Carmy’s image to sell white tees, and lastly, a newfound mainstream respect for a blank white t-shirt. The humble white t-shirt thanks you Cristina.
For those who were unaware of all this until now.. Carmy from The Bear wears a Merz B. Schwanen 215 loopwheeled t-shirt and a Whitesville Japanese t-shirt from their 2-pack series. Other characters in The Bear may or may not be seen wearing Strike Gold t-shirts.