It Has Never Been More "About F*cking Time"
Stella McCartney's "About Fucking Time" shirt is back. And it really is about fucking time.
The design is a reproduction of a DIY tanktop that Stella McCartney made in 1999 when her father, Paul (perhaps you've heard of him?), was inducted in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Its genius is in its simplicity: About fucking time one of the most famous musicians who's ever lived was saluted by the world's preeminent dad rock museum, no?
In the ensuing decades, those three words have gained a newfound sense of urgency. Sure, big deal that Paul McCartney gets inducted into a hall of fame or whatever (I'd argue he's doing just fine either way) but in an overconnected era where everything is always on fire, isn't it about fucking time we get serious?
Everyone else sure seems to think so.
The Stella McCartney "About Fucking Time" graphic returned for the designer's Fall/Winter 2024 collection of the same name, 25 years after it debuted, and immediately became inescapable.
By September 2024, mere weeks after it returned, the "About Fucking Time" tank was worn by Charli XCX, Paris Hilton, Madonna, and Lenny and Zoë Kravitz.
Now, this wasn't all quite organic — the "About Fucking TIme" tanktop has appeared in styled fashion shoots, a likely sign that Stella McCartney is boosting it with stylists — but the sudden visibility of the Stella top is clearly sinking in.
The "About Fucking Time" tanktop almost immediately sold out on the Stella McCartney website when it launched around mid-September and its $325 crewneck sibling is gone in nearly every size ( expensive, yes, but nothing compared to Dior's $900 "feminist" T-shirts).
The appeal is obvious enough, especially in our era of reborn slogan tees. It's a simple, universally agreeable sentiment with a curse word tossed in for edgy appeal, all rendered in an Aw Shucks "Vote for Pedro"-style typeface.
And, most importantly, "About Fucking Time" is vaguely emphatic enough to stand for basically anything.
For McCartney, the contemporary meaning of "About Fucking Time" expands to include renewed focus on climate change and animal rights — McCartney and her father are both longtime vegans. But it's always about fucking time, isn't it?
"About Fucking Time" Charli XCX took over the world. "About Fucking Time" PinkPantheress got the cover story she deserves. Timeliness is in the eye of the beholder.
It's about fucking time that America voted in a woman President. It's about fucking time that society at large stopped attacking women for simply existing.
Really, the only thing that could prevent the global dominance of "About Fucking Time" is its spiciness.
The F-word may be crucial to its about appeal but there are probably plenty of people with comparatively conservative tastes who might find a printed swear word a wee bit too naughty. To please those folks, perhaps McCartney ought to consider reprinting the parent-approved version her dad wore a year after "About Fucking Time" debuted. Because it's also about flippin' time, y'know?
