THE T-SHIRT LOCAL SCENE
Never Elsewhere’s Locals Only
When the Never Elsewhere brand started business in 2010, the Oakland, Calif.–based label sought to pay tribute to hot spots only locals would know about.
“It’s tourist T-shirts for locals,” Angela Tsay said. She is the chief executive officer and creative director for Never Elsewhere.
To her surprise, she found that plenty of people around the United States wanted T-shirts bearing names of California locales. To spread the wealth, the brand also makes graphics of hot spots in locales across the country.
The shirts are wholesale priced around $15. Never Elsewhere works with in-house graphic artists. It also works with artists who have developed a local fan base, such as Adam Smith in Philadelphia and the San Francisco muralist Sirron Norris.
The brand has developed shirts paying tribute to locals-only hot spots—or places that should be locals-only hot spots. One of its shirts portrays a place called Taqueria California. There is such a restaurant in San Marcos, Calif., but Tsay and her friends have yet to go there. “The T-shirt celebrates burritos,” Tsay said. “It’s more pertinent to a California lifestyle.”
But localism only goes so far. The brand started business with a mission to sell only T-shirt blanks made in America. With the bankruptcy of Los Angeles–made American Apparel, the brand has been forced to look around for other T-shirt makers. Tsay found that her shoppers didn’t care where a T-shirt was made. “The general consumer just wants something that looks cool and will last,” Tsay said. Never Elsewhere continues to work with American Apparel, but the label also works with blanks from Bella + Canvas and Australian label AS Colour.
But heart remains in the home for Never Elsewhere. Every month, the label donates 10 percent of proceeds from its Web sales to an Oakland-based nonprofit such as the Child Abuse, Listening, Interviewing and Coordination Center (CALICO). For more information, contact tess@blackcircleagency.com.
