Peter Mui, a Chinese man from Oklahoma, remembers the first time someone directed a harsh racial slandering at him when he was in eighth grade. Up until that moment, Mui says he thought he was like everyone else, even though all his friends were white. And when Mui decided to create his third clothing line many years later, YellowMan, he kept this moment in mind.

"When I decided to do another clothing line, I decided it needed to mean something a little bit different for me," he says. "I called my line YellowMan because that's me."

YellowMan, founded on the idea that skin color should never be a barrier against social status, features the artwork of renowned, international tattoo artists printed onto various technical fabrics. For Mui, these pieces offer wearers the chance to express various aspects of their personalities.

"What we are trying to do with our clothing is give someone almost the power to be something different than what they already are," he says.

For over a decade, Mui traveled the world collecting artwork from internationally acclaimed tattoo artists. He started with a list of what he considered to be the top ten artists in the world, and snagged eight of them. Mui kept on adding to his collection, resulting in his current repertoire of roughly 60 artists.

"I decided that I'd just start collecting this stuff," he says of the tattoo artists' pieces. "And if it didn't work, I'd have some great art."

Under the premise that the best tattoo artistry isn't privy to the United States, Mui gathered top works from various styles. His collection includes new school, Maori tribal, military, American traditional, Celtic, Japanese Irezumi and biomechanical styles. And Mui says these artworks are both uniquely significant, as well as representative of the cultures in which they are found.

"I like to explore, and I like to meet different people and find different cultures that I can learn from, whether it be from their food, their art, their weapons or just everyday habits," he says. "You get to know people through their art and what they create."

Mui's favourite piece comes from a member of the Japanese Yakuza. He recalls the story of when his friend told him he had found "the most incredible artist," who happened to be Yakuza. Mui says his friend got wrapped up in various degrees of drama with the artist, which ended in the friend hiding from two guys who were waiting outside his apartment for him. He called up Mui from his apartment, who told him to get out of there and not to return.

"And he goes, 'Yeah, I think you're right, but I've got the art,'" says Mui, who starts to laugh. "That's the best story."

Mui also favors a piece by Horiyoshi III, who he considers the most famous tattoo artist out of Japan. The artwork, which is used on a female shirt, features a simple design of butterflies and Japanese calligraphy.

For YellowMan, Mui translated the tattoo artists' work into wearable garments by printing them onto technical fabrics, coined MadKool. The fabric wicks away moisture from the body, maintains heat during the winter, and keeps you cool in the summer.

The collection consists of mostly undergarments and not-so-basic tees. Mui says he started off with underwear because, as a guy, he found himself always in his skivvies. He then married this concept with a women's line.

"I think a lot of people portray women as being soft and feminine, and just one kind of way," he says. "It's almost like monotone. But I don't think that's the way people are. I think everybody's got their masculine side and everybody's got their feminine side."

The pieces are slim and form-fitting, and even the most "masculine" pieces, with flames, swords and barred teeth, are still sexy and uniquely feminine. And the line's panties, which feature birds, roses, and hearts, have a bad-ass quality that is surprisingly soft and sultry.

In a society where getting tattooed has become as commonplace as changing your hair color, YellowMan provides a non-permanent medium for rebellious self-expression.

Instead of getting tattooed, Mui says, "Now you can just switch your shirts."