Thank You, Homage

Maybe one day Jon Caramanica will tweak Homage for designing T-shirts that are a tad too long -- one of those slight digs that he loves to give to tastefully nostalgic retailers in his shopping reviews in Thursday Styles. It seems plausible enough to me that Homage could reach such heights, with a store on the Lower East Side and a profile big enough to catch the Times' attention. Their calling card of comfortable, well-made T-shirts featuring vintage sports logos is easily appealing and easily adaptable across state lines. They sometimes stare into the Urban Outfitters abyss with cheeky catchphrases, such as one encouraging you to surf the Olentangy (which is impossible), but they never jump into it because they root their shirts so deeply in Midwestern places, times and sports. I could easily see the model applied to small colleges, minor league teams and minor celebrities in any state, though their authenticity is solid because they're Ohio kids making Ohio T-shirts.

When I was in their store on Brickel two weekends ago, there was more bros than I was expecting. But at the same time, I was also quite happy for the founders: Two years ago, their profile was quite low. I discovered their shirts in the Columbus Clippers' gift shop at Huntington Park. Now, their store is always crowded and I have four shirts -- the Clippers, Riverfront Stadium, the Toledo Rockets, and the Ohio State University. There's nothing wrong with Columbus kids blowing up, especially when their T-shirts are so fun to wear. I think they could easily have successful stores in Cleveland, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and maybe another Big Ten university town in the next year. From there, who knows?

Above is Homage's collection of Clippers T-shirts. I own the one in the top left corner.