New Silent Hill 2 merch is sewing discourse among fans
Some love the designs from Konami and Online Ceramics, while others absolutely loathe them. Perhaps reflective of the Silent Hill 2 remake itself?
Konami has recently announced a new range of Silent Hill 2 clothing in collaboration with LA-based clothing company Online Ceramics. While the range of tees, hoodies and more has captured the gaze of many a fashion-forward horror hounds, others find themselves in stiches over this new line of top end gamer garbs.
This rigourous designer debate can be found mostly on Twitter, where the collaboration was first announced via the offiicial Konami company account. A quick scroll down into the replies shows a cocktail of outrage, memes, and disbelief at the merch on offer.
"Damn, Konami just hire me if you want someone to toss some garbage on a t-shirt and sell it for $300 bucks," writes Allengar, who went on to hastily create a mock t-shirt poking fun at the presence of Online Ceramics URLs on the clothing line, as well as the in-their-eyes hastily slapped-on images from the classic horror title. Others went on to follow their example by producing their own mock attire and posting it to share with their digital peers.
It's not all negative though. A quick look at the quote retweets reveals a host of online folk who actually vibe with some of the fruits of Online Ceramics' labour. Love for the pants and multiple shirts is plentiful, even if reluctantly.
Siobhán Casey, whose brilliant work you may have seen on this site recently, counts themselves among this group. "It's very rare for videogame clothing to be interesting, 90% are just Logo/Key art. These tap into a very specifically trashy/haunted vibe that lends the IP the sort of alt-90s grunge/Twin Peaks/X Files cultural cache that Silent Hill emulates and deserves".
"I could leave these on my dirtbag bassist boyfriend's floor and they wouldn't look out of place. I'd go as far as to say it's the first time Konami have truly demonstrated an understanding of the unique strengths of Silent Hill since The Room."
However, if there is a real tragedy that both the lovers and haters of these new designs have in common, it's that the majority of them will likely not be able to afford some of the more radical products on sale. A quick look at the online store for these new Silent Hill 2 products reveals some eye-watering prices. The Dead Wife t-shirt will cost you $55, and the same design on a hoodie will rock you $120, while those slick pants can be yours for a staggering $270. Other designs can cost a little more or less, but that's the rough ballpark for the range. Those who thought Dead or Alive and Total War's range was expensive may not have experienced the woes of the fashion game.
If you want to buy something for yourself ahead of the Silent Hill 2 remake launch, you can either do so at their online store, or at several real life locations that are listed out at the top of their store page. Treat yourself, why don't you!