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The History and Timeline of Resurreccion Tags: 1993 to 2006

Resurreccion is a Mexico-based bootleg t-shirt that was formed in the early 90s. But it’s far more than just a typical bootleg operation given they were determined to create a lasting brand. The designs were original, big, and painstakingly printed. Rather than scouting out dirt cheap blanks, they mostly used ones they smuggled from the United States or bought shirts that didn’t pass the quality control.

Resurreccion occupies a unique space in the vintage t-shirt universe, which is obvious given its value in modern times. According to Jesus at @vintagewitchfinder, someone shelled out $3000 for a Dragon Ball Z Resurreccion tee.

Jesus is a vintage t-shirt collector who owns roughly 700 tees and has a special interest in Mexican bootlegs.

He explained Resurreccion’s rich history:

The operation began in 1991 when a high school student named Hugo Sarmiento decided to start making band bootlegs with a couple of friends. He was inspired by his cousin Eduardo Sarmiento who made bootlegs in the late 80s and up today, his brand is called Rock and Death which has also very rare and valuable vintage band bootlegs. Hugo began to sell in the parking lot of every big concert in Mexico, being Billy Joel had their first parking lot bootlegs sale in 1991, The Cure, Sepultura, Guns N Roses, Pantera, Deicide, Kiss, and Metallica, to name a few… they were always there.

Mexico has been characterized as being very proactive, if licensed shirts weren’t available in stores in Mexico some people would smuggle them from the states and sell them at flea markets. Others like Hugo, Eduardo, or Alejandro Trejo from Peyote preferred to do it the DIY way, exploding their creativity and going beyond the limits of what is expected from a shirt.

Resurreccion wasn’t the first bootleg brand but it surely left a landmark in bootleg history, shirts in Mexico have been made since mid-’80s because of the DIY Punk movement, and people like Alejandro Trejo, Jorge Hueso, and Fernando Marín from Rock Dreams started that movement, and their legacy still lives on. Resurreccion is a very well-known brand in Mexico and they’re very active today. They’ve evolved from band shirts to comic and anime shirts, and more themes making them a very versatile brand.

Resurreccion Tag Guides

Tag grid courtesy of Tees_4_fears

To learn a little more about Resurreccion, here’s a short documentary:

By the way, there are modern Resurreccion bootlegs – yes, a bootleg of a bootleg. We’ve got an example of a fake Resurreccion tag in our archive.