St. Louis Park illustrator Adam Turman designs undies for Duluth Trading Co.
From building facades to boxer briefs, local artist works in media that are highly visible — sometimes discreet.
October 7, 2021 at 12:00PM
There's good reason why Adam Turman has been called the most visible artist in Minnesota. The St. Louis Park illustrator's striking, stylized designs adorn the walls of bowling alleys, breweries, restaurants and hotels and are emblazoned on pint glasses, puzzles and rock-concert posters.
Now Turman's designs can be found somewhere much more discreet: underwear by Duluth Trading Co.
The company got its start 30 years ago in Duluth, selling gear and workwear for tradespeople, so it was a natural fit to commission an artist known for rendering local icons — from hot dish to the Grain Belt Beer sign.
Turman's designs, which can be found on Minnesota State Fair posters, St. Paul Winter Carnival buttons, and Faribault Woolen Mills' blankets, are now available on two styles of skivvies.
The women's undies feature a print called "Lumberjack Legends," depicting Paul Bunyan, Babe the Blue Ox, and an ax chopping a log, on a background of green buffalo plaid. Men's boxer briefs are also available in an additional pattern, "Road Tripping," which is dotted with retro-mod RVs, travel trailers and pop-up campers.
With seams and stretchiness to factor in, making drawings for drawers was more complex than Turman's first collaboration with Duluth Trading Co.: a mural for its Mall of America store of an underwear model surrounded by loons, a Viking ship and the Duluth Aerial Lift Bridge.
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