Bridge Nine “Drug Free Anime” T-Shirt

First Printing: 1995

When Bridge Nine started, few people outside of Chris Wrenn and his friends would have cared to wear a T-shirt promoting a label that was unknown and unproven. To give people a reason to want to rep it, Chris designed this anime-style T-shirt as Bridge Nine’s first. Chris was a skateboarder, and Japanese anime imagery had become popular with brands like Hook-Ups and Blind. This T-shirt features an illustration of a girl with a large black X on the back of her hand. The Japanese Kanji-style letters, provided by a Japanese exchange student in Chris Wrenn’s dorm, translate to “Against bad drugs.” First printed in 1995.

1st Edition (1995-1996)

The first version of this T-shirt was printed in 1995 at a small screen-printing business in Rutland, Vermont, near the college Chris attended. It featured a black-and-white ink-screen-printed design on a mix of Anvil-brand earth-tone T-shirts (mustard, pictured below; maroon, forest green, lake blue) and white ringer T-shirts.

Selling Bridge Nine’s first T-shirt at a show in Albany, New York in the mid-90s

2nd Edition (1997-1999)

2nd edition, now with red Kanji letters. Printed by Equal Vision Records and sold through their catalog. 100% Cotton tees printed on Fruit of the Loom, ringers printed on Murina brand T-shirts.

3rd Edition (2015)

For Bridge Nine’s 20th anniversary in 2015, this design was printed for the first time since the 1990s. Kanji letters are printed with athletic gold ink. Bridge Nine logo and size info screen printed inside the neck of a heather charcoal gray T-shirt. Limited to 100 printed.

4th Edition (2020)

For Bridge Nine’s 25th anniversary in 2020, this T-shirt was printed again, this time with a streamlined design that focused on the illustration. Kanji letters are printed with red ink. Printed on a Comfort Colors brand T-shirt. Limited to 100 printed.

5th Edition (2025)

Reprinted in 2025 with red and black ink on several different “natural” cotton styles. An edition of 150 pieces was printed across three styles: 80 printed on Comfort Colors T-shirts, 38 printed on red ringer tees, and 32 printed on heather natural cotton crewneck sweatshirts. Limited sizes and quantities of this edition are still available HERE!