You can now get a $78 Repo Records T-shirt at Free People locations across the country

While flipping through the racks at one of Free People’s more than 100 brick-and-mortar storefronts, shoppers across the country can now find a raw-hemmed, oversize white T-shirt paying tribute to a favorite Philly-based record shop.

It’s part of a new partnership between the trendy boho fashion brand and South Street’s own Repo Records.

Free People launched its Record Shop capsule collection last weekend, bringing four indie shops and record labels to a larger stage. The collection also highlights Easy Street Records out of Seattle, Amoeba Records from California, and Ani DiFranco’s indie label, Righteous Babe Records.

The capsule collection features one shirt for each participant, printing their labels or designs onto signature Free People-styled shirts. They’re distressed, worn in, mineral washed, raw hemmed. But they come at a price: $78. Can’t you get Repo shirts for cheaper? Sure, but it’s not the same shirt.

It took about a year for the collection to come to fruition. Free People initially contacted Repo last spring, according to the record shop’s creative director, Jacci Weaver.

Weaver has worked at the record shop since 2013 and is an artist with a background in fashion design. She draws all of Repo’s T-shirt designs by hand. The graphic Free People used for its Repo shirt features what she describes as a “twin-headed alien.”

The alien is a recurring theme in Repo’s merch that began appearing around 2017, when the shop relocated from 538 South St. to its current location at 506 South St.

» READ MORE: Repo Records celebrates 30+ years on South Street

“An alien was never meant to be a Repo Records mascot or anything,” she said. “I was surprised by how well it sold because it literally has no reference to records, or Philly, or anything.”

Repo’s inaugural alien graphic tee can even be spotted in an episode of Mare of Easttown (which heavily spotlighted Philly’s DIY music scene) worn by actor Drew Scheid (a proud Philly local). Weaver has continued to put the double-headed alien in different scenarios: a boat, a hammock, a mountain — and printing those colorful designs onto T-shirts for the shop.

When the collection was unveiled, Weaver headed over to Philly’s Free People location on Walnut Street to see her design in-store.

“I stopped by over the weekend and saw it hanging on one of the racks right in front,” she said. “It was definitely cool to see that!”

Free People’s Repo shirt is available in select stores as well as online. Meanwhile, Repo continues to sell a locally printed version of the design in a different color combo on a black shirt for $20 to $25.

“The design that ended up being used is something that has already been sold in-store at Repo Records for the past couple of years,” Weaver said. She said Repo sent Free People several designs from its shirts and stickers and “they chose the one they thought would work best.”

While the difference in prices may be jarring to some, it boils down to aesthetics. Repo’s version feels new and starchy, with traditional sizing. Free People’s version is intentionally oversize and flowy, with a worn-in scoop neck and a stitched seam running down the back. Shirts from Free People’s Record Shop capsule fall into the brand’s Care FP sustainable clothing umbrella, meaning the shirts are made with at least 50% of a certifiable responsible material.

Free People — which is owned by the Philadelphia-based company URBN (also the parent company to Urban Outfitters, Terrain, Anthropologie, and Nuuly) — declined to disclose contractual details surrounding the capsule collection. Weaver also declined to go into specifics but confirmed that Free People licensed the design from Repo.

» READ MORE: Terrain is coming to Doylestown. The new location booked 100 weddings and events before even opening.

The brands highlighted by Free People for the collection range in popularity and notoriety (Amoeba calls itself the world’s largest independent record store). Free People said the company’s We The Free label selected shops during team brainstorming sessions.

“The team really wanted to collaborate with record shops across the country to spread awareness [of] the importance of buying records and in-store shopping,” a Free People spokesperson said.

They added that “it only felt natural to support Repo Records since it’s based in our hometown and is an iconic South Street staple in Philadelphia.”

Weaver said she was skeptical when first approached but has been pleasantly surprised.

“We are very protective of Repo and I don’t want it to ever lose its small indie record store charm,” Weaver said. “Free People is such a massive entity that it seemed a little daunting. But once I realized that they were going to keep the integrity of my design and honor Repo as an iconic record store … I felt like ‘why wouldn’t we do it?’”

She added, “We’ve worked so hard to build a steady following and constantly come up with ways to stay interesting and relevant. So I totally feel like Repo Records is long overdue for the boost in brand recognition and validation that a huge campaign like this can only bring.”