////CONTEST WINNERS AFTER THE JUMP////
T-shirt brands are a dime-a-dozen, yet we can’t ignore the fact that so many of the great, influential brands of today have evolved from designing Tees out of a basement. NY-based label CXXVI are doing things differently. Using their strong portfolio of work for design studio Onetwentysix, Matt Gorton and Jon Contino craft one-of-a-kind Tee’s; all are hand-printed, individually hand numbered and made of soft 100% combed cotton. It’s all about details with CXXVI. Just look at the attention to detail in their labels – each with a date of when it was printed and packaged. This goes a long way in creating a link between the artists and those who wear their art.
The 2009 Fall collection revolves around a nautical theme, inspired by the harbormasters, fishermen and blue-collar workers of small American Fishing Towns. We caught up with the guys at CXXVI to get a behind-the-scenes look.
My name is CXXVI and I’m currently made by Matt Gorton and Jon Contino.
CXXVI is all about the American working man because that’s who we are, and that’s who we care about.
If we hadn’t started CXXVI, we would not be doing this interview.
The name CXXVI comes from Rome. Well, technically CXXVI is a nice way to reference our design studio without directly mentioning the name “Onetwentysix”.
We chose to produce Tees because we’ve designed so many tees for so many different brands. We felt it was finally time to do something of our own.
We originally came up with the idea for CXXVI when we both had separate ideas for shirt lines and thought it would only make sense to combine the two into one solid, coherent, and probably much better line.
We chose to only produce Limited Edition/Unique pieces because we value the process so much. In doing limited edition/unique pieces, we’re able to manage each one individually and also document the process fairly extensively giving the entire brand a very hand-crafted and personal aesthetic.
Our thoughts on collaborations are very positive. We love the design challenges that collaborating entails and we love the fact that the customer gets a product that’s a combination of two brands they love.
My work for Onetwentysix enables me to eat turkey sandwiches, drink beer, and take off early to watch Yankees win the World Series.
The most gratifying for me personally with CXXVI has been having complete control over every aspect of the brand.
What I love about New York is how nicely the letter N interlocks with the letter Y.
The best part of my job is having hardcore blasting on iTunes, The Burbs playing in the background, and questionable websites open at any given moment.
The worst part of my job is all the screaming kids in the daycare center behind the office.
Currently, I’m in the midst of packing and shipping out orders. (PS, order more!)
What you can expect from our next collection is more tees, some new outerwear pieces, and some interesting collaborations.
Outside of CXXVI, you can find me campaigning the Academy to retroactively give Tom Hanks the Oscar for his starring role in The Burbs.
My hopes for 2010 are to one day see a ferry pulling into the harbor out my window.
Out my window I see a ferry pulling into the harbor out my window. HUZZAH! We achieve our goals early!
A behind-the-scenes look at the hand-printing process, and the making of the Fall 2009 Lookbook…
/////CONTEST/////
Matt and Jon want to hook you up with the Complete CXVII Collection:
TO ENTER:
Leave a REPLY telling a creative story about an early American fishing town in exactly 10 words.
The favorite will win the complete CXXVI collection packaged in a tote bag of your choice.
Three runners up will win 2 free shirts of their choosing.
CONTEST ENDS AT NOON (EST) FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30th
The winners are…
GRAND PRIZE:
Chris
Lost my father, my captain, my drinking companion. On Tuesday.
“They were all really really great entries but Chris’ story really created its own environment and felt to us like a real, true tale.” – MATT GORTON
RUNNERS UP:
Ben says: 
Dan 
TP 
LP 
Dan 
