Cool Hunting

ELVS (or Enhanced Light Visibility System) is a new line of tees by the New York brand Laek House. Hand-printed with reflective ink, the tees look pretty much like any other screen print (pictured, above left) until placed in direct light they light up with a brilliant white glow (pictured, above right) that's visible at least from 100 feet away. Using the same retro-reflective inks found on safety vests, backpacks and sneakers, the glowing properties won't fade like glow-in-the-dark, work even when wet and are otherwise pretty much indistinguishable by look and touch from other inks.

Laek House founder Ethan Benton, a bicyclist and Manhattan resident, silkscreens his original designs himself onto American Apparel tees and sweatshirts in his East Village studio. Benton bases his imagery on New York bike culture, like the shield-based design of 212 that plays on a type of Reynolds steel coveted by bicyclists. Proto, a bike coat-of-arms, references the Olympics and The Five Boroughs of New York is a map featuring NYC. All designs are pictured here and feature a rear argyle pattern across the shoulders. Tees start at $26 and you can get them from Laek House.

212

The Five Boroughs of New York

Proto