The Häagen-Dazs T-Shirt

A case study of an otherwise ordinary item becoming highly desirable as a subcultural reference

A couple years ago, on a whim - very possibly while eating Caramel Cone ice cream - I decided to search online for vintage Häagen-Dazs merch to see what was out there. My search found five or so different colors of tee, all with the brand spelled across the chest, presumably for staff uniforms.

They were/are cool - clean, simple, available in fun colors with their signature Reuben Bold font on the front. Each color represented a different ice cream flavor, with the ice cream flavor printed on the back (for example, the red t-shirt said “Strawberry” on the back). Perfectly whimsical, yet wearable. However, the asking prices gave me genuine shock ~ $250-300 a pop, with some as high at $450. Again, they were cool but not that cool. For instance, here are some that sold in the last 90 days:

I truly could not comprehend how Häagen-Dazs could garner such prices. I texted a friend who I thought might know why, but we were both befuddled.

Turns out they are actually that cool…

I don’t remember what I googled (probably ‘Häagen-Dazs t-shirt’ or something like that) and in the image results, after scrolling down a bit I came across a photo of Henry Rollins wearing one and the photo linked to an article from 2013 on Consequence.net titled ‘Henry Rollins used to work at Häagen-Dazs’ and then everything clicked immediately.

The photo, taken by Susie J Horgan, is black and white. Upon further research Rollins is wearing the burgundy employee shirt that says ‘Cassis’ on the back.

Yes, that is Ian MacKaye, who also worked at Häagen-Dazs in Georgetown in the early 1980s. Two of the foundational figures in hardcore punk, a scene rich in lore and fiercely devoted fans, both worked at Häagen-Dazs.

Hardcore band tees and ephemera are exceedingly rare and fetch high prices accordingly and there is a clear transfer evident here into the demand of these Häagen-Dazs staff t-shirts. Particularly the burgundy Cassis one. These t-shirts to me represent cheeky references to iconic musicians, but also a potential opportunity to flex on your fellow head in a deeper way. Anyone with a couple hundred bucks to burn can buy some vintage band merch, but that moment when you get to put someone on and tell them the story of how the t-shirt represents the last job Henry Rollins had before auditioning for Black Flag is priceless.

In a 2012 interview with Big Think, Rollins says “I looked at the ice cream scoop in my hand…my chocolate-bespattered apron…and my future in the world of minimum wage work…or I could go up to New York and audition for this crazy band who was my favorite. What’s the worst that’s gonna happen to me? I miss a day of work…ooh, there goes 21 bucks.”

I feel like I should point out that any sense of authenticity gained from wearing the Häagen-Dazs staff tee does come with some irony attached from the fact that the brand name is made-up to sound vaguely Scandinavian and is actually from the Bronx. A story for another day.

In 2021, Japanese graphic artist Verdy scored an official collaboration with Häagen Dazs for his brand Wasted Youth. He’s no stranger to collaborating with brands, big and small. Because of his love of 80s hardcore, Häagen-Dazs was one he had been chasing for years, but the partnership always eluded him. So when he finally was able to work with them, he knew exactly what he wanted to.

In an interview with Tokion, Verdy says “The front men of my favorite bands used to work at Häagen-Dazs, and even today, if you look up on the internet, you’ll find a bunch of pictures of these guys wearing a Häagen-Dazs T-shirt.” He goes on, “on top of that, Häagen-Dazs doesn’t release their items much, so there aren’t that many in the market, but that’s another reason why I wanted to produce a product with them.”

We all scream for ice cream indeed.