Hickoree's on the Perfect Pocket Tee
Hickoree's Hard Goods has become one of those menswear shops that always has something on offer that you didn't think you needed until you laid your eyes on it. While the brothers behind it, Emil and Sandy Corsillo, are also running the successful accessory line The Hill-Side, they also have a predilection for awesome Japanese brands like Kapital and cult labels like Battenwear—a Brooklyn surf clothing brand informed by an Eastern attention-to-detail. Speaking of which, Hickorees recently launched an in-house line of pocket tees. Made with details like taped necks and constructed in Japan, these understated staples are the types of things that get a lot of wear in the warmer months. They even come in attractive, throwback plastic packaging. We caught up with Emil to talk about how they came to be, and what sets them apart from regular old T-shirts.
A walk to the bagel shop by our office, actually. There's a guy on the corner who sells tees on a folding table, and on a swamp-hot summer day in Brooklyn, there's something really appealing about a nice, crisp white tee. We've been working on developing some Hickoree's branded stuff for a while, and T-shirts seemed like the right place to start.
- Emil Corsillo is an accomplished graphic designer in his own right. In addition to the art direction for the Hickoree's website, Emil has done work for sneaker companies like Tretorn and Puma.
The T-shirts are tube knit in Japan from US-grown cotton in a simple, summer-weight jersey. We carry a lot of Made in the USA and Made in Japan goods, and I like that these Hickoree's brand tees have a connection to both. The material that really sets them apart is plastic—we went all out on the packaging. I liked the idea of a very simple product with very embellished packaging, so we made a T-shirt shaped window on the front, put mirrored text on the back, and got custom stickers printed to tell you what size and design you'll find inside the package.
Are there any vintage bells-and-whistles you guys wanted to recreate?
There are lots of great T-shirts that take their cues from vintage sportswear, but we're going for more of a contemporary take on a classic. These are simple yet modern and actually don't have many bells and whistles. The tube knit means there are no side seams, which is really comfortable and the whole thing is only five pieces of fabric. The "H" on the pocket stands for Hickoree's, but I really like how it also comes across as a simple, abstract geometric form.
