T-Shirt Printers and Designers Open Emulsion Apparel Studio

T-Shirt Printers and Designers Open Emulsion Apparel Studio

Say goodbye to the idea of tacky t-shirts shops on Newport's Thames Street. Hot off the printing press is Emulsion Apparel and Design, a hip new t-shirt printing and design boutique operating out of the City by the Sea.

Not only a cool boutique with t-shirts for sale, Emulsion also offers custom printing for customers, including creating one-of-a-kind designs. It's the vision of Massachusetts College of Art & Design graduates Chris Fiftal and Dave DiAngelis, who began operation in 2009 in Boston and just recently moved their studio and storefront to Newport.

GoLocalProv sat down with Dave DiAngelis between printings to find out more about Emulsion.

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1. Your Web site says, “[You] know what it’s like to talk to some random smelly man who has no idea who you are.”  How did you break that cycle to grow and expand?

Haha, sometimes I forget that people actually read what I write on our Webnsite. That's essentially just an example of what we had dealt with while starting out as a small skate brand up in Boston. The majority of screen-printing places seem to be these summer-sports-number-monsters that are mildly oblivious to the fact that people prefer clothing that actually fits their body.

It took us a lot of time and energy to find the right wholesale accounts and knowledge of quality printing methods that are on the market today. I never agreed with the whole "industry secrets" mentality. If you come by the shop, we'll tell you exactly what type of Fashion Fit Anvil 980 shirt we print on and why the stiff Jerzee shirt you have in the back of your closet stays there. It can be a headache starting something with no direction, so why would we want to keep it from you?  

2. You began in Boston, so what attracted you to open a studio in Newport?

The beach.

3. Who is your targeted audience? Would you say hipsters?

I kind of try to not say the word "hipsters" in sentences ever. Ultimately anyone is a potential print client, but I guess our brand aesthetic is generally catered more towards a younger, design-oriented crowd. We do a great deal of work with small businesses and brands but we have some larger accounts like Foxwoods as well. Pretty much if you've got a torso, it's worth handing over a business card. You guys at GoLocal need any shirts...?

4. Do you do more design and printing or selling of your apparel?

As far as time allotment goes, definitively design and printing - but that's just because it's so time consuming by nature. Our print business has picked up greatly this summer, but we also just finished working on a brand-new line, which I'm really excited to put out in the next couple of weeks. We utilized a lot of collage/photo elements this time around since we just added a new Direct to Garment photo printer to our printing arsenal.

5. What is your most popular t-shirt?

Aztec Bison, especially the girls’ tank. 

6. What are your goals for the business?

Growth, more artist participation and more cool projects. We recently opened up our first retail/instant-shirt location at 3 Pearl St. Mystic, CT. this summer. There you can shop our brand in person, eat some popcorn, and get a shirt printed with anything you want on it in under 60 seconds. A few more similar locations would be ideal, some art shows, and a potential coffee table book is on the radar as well.

Visit the Emulsion Apparel storefront and studio at 658 Thames St. Newport or online at http://www.emulsionapparel.com/.

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