Johnny Cupcakes

If your taste in fashion lean towards the funky, trendy and somewhat goofy, and if you like wearing statements on your chest, then Johnny Cupcakes is the place for you. Started by the still twenty-something John Earle, the store has attracted a cult-following in the Boston area.
Johnny Cupcakes was a nickname given to Earle while working at a silk-screening/record shop called Newbury Comics. The name stuck and he printed it on some tee shirts which he wore when performing with his band, "On Broken Wings". The tee shirts caused quite a stir. Earle then created his now signature cupcake graphic and decided it would be interesting to add it to iconic images - the Statue of Liberty holding a cupcake, Marilyn Monroe with a cupcake beauty mark, a cupcake and crossbones. As his tee shirt sales took off, Earle packed them up and took them on tour with his band, selling them at shows out of the back of the band's van. Turns out he could make more money selling tee shirts than playing in the band. In 2006 he opened his boutique on Newbury Street and, in keeping with the cupcakes theme, decorated it in classic, vintage bakery design.
Carried only at selective boutiques, as well as the boutique on Newbury Street, the tee shirts sell in limited editions. Some lines are limited to only a couple of hundred shirts. The goal is to position the shirts as collectible, limited, wearable art. Johnny must be doing something right, the Wall Street Journal did a piece on the store, he was interviewed by NPR, the CNBC show, "Morning Call," and been written about in fashion blogs.
My favorite tee shirt is the "Make Cupcakes Not War" shirt that was given to me as a gift this year. It has the funky vibe that I think defines a great tee shirt, a shape-enhancing slim fit, and a message that says just the right thing.