On Melrose Avenue, where ugly T-shirts are as ubiquitous as bad tattoos and moms with Botox, Johnny Earle’s (aka Johnny Cupcakes) work stands out as being far from half-baked. Drawing inspiration from old movies, comic books, current streetwear trends and childhood nostalgia, Earle incorporates pop icons into his designs, then sprinkles them his signature culinary twist.
Earle is a DIY prankster at heart, and his T-shirt business actually began as a joke. “Johnny Cupcakes” was just one of the many nicknames he inherited while working at Newbury Comics (a record and pop culture store in Boston) and touring with his hardcore band. To poke fun at the moniker, he started making T-shirts emblazoned with it. Demand for his tees grew over the years, as apparently even hardcore punks have a soft spot for daintily iced cakes. While Earle's first retail shop in Boston received a warm welcome, his L.A. store drew an even greater turnout, which he described on his blog as being “pretty surreal." Earle cites his quality-over-quantity business model as the secret to his success; he's turned down multiple investors and lucrative offers from retail chains. He has also managed to employ most of his family and close friends.
“This store is like the Boston store, but on steroids,” Earle explained at the opening. Earle hired engineers who previously worked for Disney, who converted the small retail space into a whimsical ’50s-style bakery. An assortment of 27 pastel-colored steam-spouting vintage ovens adorns one wall, while larger-than-life pipes ooze fake dough covered with giant chocolate sprinkles. Shirts are exhibited like finely crafted desserts inside stainless steel freezers. Ask to try on a shirt and watch as employees emerge, product in hand, from the mouth of a 10-foot-tall sea-foam-green oven. Even the checkout stand is original, made from a refurbished stove and illuminating four classic cupcake-and-crossbones logos.
Although Earle’s line has gained a cult-like following among streetwear aficionados, customers include sneakerheads, vintage collectors, astonished old women who mistake the shop for a real bake shop and high school students who pose for pictures beneath the “freshly baked” sign in the front window. Apparently, L.A.’s most outrageous bakery has proven difficult to resist.
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