Apparel is a genre that especially recently, has infused Dragon Ball into it. With the medium being clothing and accessories, they usually cover multiple topics and love incorporating pop culture into their designs. The “writers” of the medium are the designers, the brand, the stores and ad campaigns. The “readers” are the people using the apparel and even viewing the ads. This medium is used to make money and uses ads and connections to pop culture to sell merchandise.

Content as already stated usually includes graphics that are inspired by pop culture or trends which help sell the merchandise. This medium uses an appeal to pathos to sell by using visually appealing graphics/designs or using pop culture that we have an emotional connection to in order to sell their merch. Logos can also be used by using new technology that is appealing to our logical side. When we see new tech we tend to think about how much better it would be than what we have now. Texts in this genre are usually short sentences, phrases or brand names with a rare occasion that there is an entire paragraph on the apparel. The genre my use slang or jargon that goes along with the target market of their products.

This genre really shows how customers have a soft spot for pop culture they love. You are way more likely to buy a shirt with Goku on it then just a normal shirt if you love Dragon Ball Z. In this genre, what the customer is interested in is the most important because it helps sales the most. This genre does enhance our ability to express ourselves by buying clothes or accessories that represent something we like.

 

Due to Dragon Ball’s recent spike in popularity in the hip-hop scene, we see brands starting to do collaborations and using Dragon Ball characters on their shoes or clothing.

Adidas Collaboration

This is a recent Adidas collection that was inspired by Dragon Ball Z. Each shoe’s colorway is based off a character from the show. They made 7 shoes and when all the boxes are stacked they create one large picture. Below is a picture of the ZX 500 RM: ‘Goku’ and the Yung 1: ‘Frieza’.

Primitive Collaboration

Primitive Skateboards released a collaboration with DBZ and dropped skate equipment and clothing.