If you’ve been buying and selling vintage, Jesus tees are not something new. They’ve always been around at the bins, swap meets and thrift stores, but you probably never really paid attention to them until now. With celebrities like Kanye West and Justin Bieber repping their Christian faith on their sleeve, Jesus tees have become a pretty hot commodity. This has led Jesus tees to rise in price and popularity. However, there are people that have been collecting Jesus tees for a while and have curated some pretty amazing collections.

We had the opportunity to talk with Javier, the owner of the IG page @Vintagejesustees. His page is THE premier destination for everything vintage Jesus tees. He has the largest collection of Jesus tees in the world, and we met with him to talk about his entrance into vintage, faith, running his own modern bootleg brand Modern Revival and future plans for his archive/collection.

How did you get into vintage? Was it with Jesus tees?

I’ve been in the vintage game for over 6 years now. I transitioned in from sneaker culture, trying to buy Yeezys and other shoes to flip. While buying and selling at swap meets and flea markets, I realized that vintage is “more unique, artistic and rarer than sneaker/hype culture. It started as a hobby, but it was easier to find a cool shirt for a couple bucks as opposed to sneakers for $200+.”

I started selling at Rose Bowl every month under a different IG/Page but was also working at a megachurch doing media and broadcast work. I eventually felt overworked, which led me to go full-time independent with photo/video work. This eventually transitioned into reselling, then reselling into vintage.

I stumbled upon my first Lords’ Gym shirt at a Rose Bowl and was instantly hooked. Back then I spent $275 on a 2pac rap tee but realized “why spend that much when I can get a shirt that represents my faith. its more valuable to me… with vintage my two worlds collided.”

“A few years ago, I transitioned into making a curation page. I felt on my heart that I wanted to do a unique curation that’s meaningful to me. I saw curation pages start up for snack, rap, Disney and cartoon tees, but I eventually built up the courage and collection to start this vintage Jesus tee archive.”

“Really felt that God put on my heart that I can make a book/archive. Similar to the rap tees book, this is the vintage Jesus tees archive.”

Why do you think Jesus tees have been growing in popularity?

Javier is extremely happy to see vintage Jesus tees becoming more popular. I believe there’s a Kanye effect to it as well…I came out with my page a little before the JIK album came out and now people like Justin Bieber are promoting Christianity and their faith to a wide audience.”

“They are effectively destigmatizing the bad judgement that religion and Christians get. People now have “permission” and aren’t afraid to represent the vintage Jesus tees and religious tees. People now see the art in them, and not just something cheesy. Of course there’s also people looking for the opportunity to resell them as well, since they are becoming more popular.”

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Are you okay with Jesus tees being worn by non-Christians? Or even ironically by people who are anti-religion?

“Yes of course! At the end of the day, the gospel of Jesus is being presented and preached, and that’s all that matters. When I started, I wanted to be a small light in the vintage community, because the representation was not there.”

How many vintage Jesus tees do you own?

“I’ve curated over 1,000 vintage Jesus tees. The archive collection has about 800-900 shirts and my personal collection is around 100 shirts.”

Do you only own/wear vintage Jesus tees?

“I still wear other shirts. I like to support other vintage bootleggers, but the more that I built up the vintage Jesus tees collection, the more that I wear them.”

We hear you’re making a vintage Jesus tees book? What’s that been like?

“The process has been a lot more in depth than I thought. Cross referencing all the information and photos, making them neat is a lot of work. I originally wanted to do a documentary coupled with the book, taking more of a historical perspective (like when was the first graphic Jesus tee printed). I even tracked down the owner of Living Epistles, and unfortunately the owner had a stroke shortly after getting in contact, so it put the plans on hold. But I still want to go talk to him and develop that idea someday. But the book is taking more of an archive approach, accompanied with verses, original designs and meaning.”

What’s your influence behind the Modern Revival “Save your Soul” shirt? 

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“I had the idea for the “Save Your Soul” shirt before even owning it. It took me a year to find someone to do an all over print in the USA (at that time), and I really wanted to just give it a try… and thankfully people really liked it. I wanted to make that tee more affordable and easily accessible, with a more modern spin. I don’t really like calling them bootlegs, its more paying homage to the originals. Its not just a copy and paste. Everything I do is made from scratch with a twist. I want my heart to show the effort and true meaning behind it, like what Backstock does. I want to build it into a brand like living epistles. Make a cool brand with a vintage reference that represents God.”

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Check out more of his collection and Modern Revival work below

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It was an honor and pleasure to speak with Javier and learn more about his mission to bring Vintage Jesus tees and Christianity into the spotlight. He truly wears his heart on his sleeve, and we can’t wait to see what amazing things he does with his collection and influence!

Once again you can follow Javier on IG @vintagejesustees and check out his brand Modern Revival!