SayWear Launches Personalized T-Shirt Service
San Francisco–based SayWear LLC has rolled out www.saywear.com, which the company claims is the first online T-shirt sayings registry and e-commerce site.
The company, launched by former Apple Computer Inc. executive Shawn Hopwood, allows visitors to buy T-shirts with personalized slogans or sayings for $29.99 each. Once a saying is registered, it will not be sold to anyone else, Hopwood said. The company has registered a number of celebrity clients, including the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who registered his “Keep Hope Alive” maxim, and boxing announcer Michael Buffer, who registered his well-known introduction, “Let’s get ready to rumble.”
SayWear is conducting an auction of the celebrity shirts this week on eBay. Proceeds will benefit the National Center on Adult Literacy.
Los Angeles–based American Apparel Inc. is supplying the company with blank baby-rib tees in regular and fitted sizes.
Hopwood said initial reaction has been strong. He said customers are not limited to what they can put on a T-shirt, unless it violates a trademark or copyright. “We don’t seek to limit what people want to say, and you wouldn’t believe some of the ideas we’ve received,” he said.
All shirts come with a “SayWear Original” tag and proof of registration. Registered sayings are immediately locked from subsequent purchases.
“SayWear’s idea is simple and ingenious. It neatly puts a printing press into the hands of everyday thinkers,” said Dov Charney, co-founder and senior partner of American Apparel. “We love seeing such innovation in our marketplace.” —Robert McAllister
