Lollapalooza is an annual outdoor music festival held in Grant Park in Chicago, IL, United States. I was commissioned to create 2025’s lineup T-shirt, with an illustration for the front and a lineup graphic adaptation design for the back.

This project came to life with an influx of Japanese fans supporting the festival, following the inclusion of two gifted Japanese artists in the year’s lineup: Fujii Kaze and Otoboke Beaver.

This growing cultural mash-up inspired the organisers to create a design that would resonate with both Lollapalooza’s global audience and attendees from Japan.

The core concept is ‘Lolla meets Japanese culture’. I aimed to blend elements of Japanese culture into Lollapalooza’s established visual identity, to create an illustration that feels both familiar and unexpected.

In the early drafts, I explored a range of Japanese motifs that could naturally align with Lollapalooza’s energetic and eclectic vibes, to create unique mush-ups – such as folklore monsters (yōkai) band, geisha guitarist, cat’s monster (bake neko) DJ, and Chicago skyline with Mt. Fuji backdrop.

Ultimately, lucky cat (maneki neko) concept is selected. While it is a classic Japanese motif, its universal familiarity and playful charm made it the most effective choice for this project.

The final illustration is applied on the front of the T-shirt, featuring the maneki neko dressed up for the festival as the central figure, setting against the Chicago skyline coloured by a sunrise that symbolises Japan. The banner text is written in Japanese katakana ‘ロラパル〜ザ’ which reads Lollapalooza.

Surrounding elements include Mt Fuji with cherry blossoms, flying taiyaki (fish-shaped cake), cherry blossoms, and dynamic waves inspired by Thirty-Six Views of Mt Fuji, all woven together to create a vibrant cross-cultural composition.

The back of the T-shirt features a design that adapted from this year’s lineup advertising graphic.

The final unisex T-shirt comes in a light blue oversized fit and is offered in a full range of sizes. Pre-orders are now available via Lollapalooza’s official merchandise website.

* T-shirt mockup images and the model shot is provided by C3 Presents.

Lollapalooza 2025 – Lucky Cat lineup T-shirt