Ever since T-shirt-wearing James Dean appeared in Rebel without a Cause, this little piece of clothing has become the most ubiquitous cotton item – worn by the whole world, from celebrities to kids in the poorest villages in Africa. Whether you are talking Gap plain, Nike branded, Che Guevara iconic or anti capitalist slogan-bearing there's no escaping the T-shirt. This is a whistlestop tour taking in the T-shirt's first outing under the uniforms of the American soldiers in WWI; slavery and cotton mills, fair trade and 'smart' Ts of the future.