The Story of the Circle Tee

It started with a smile. Our best-selling Circle Tee was first the Smiley Tee, a design brought to life by Robert’s then 8-year-old daughter Ava. She started hand-painting a yellow and black smiley face on t-shirts, and we loved them so much, we asked her to make them for All Roads. After many, many hand-painted tees later, she was (understandably!) over it. 

Rather than let the design go, we traced the circle from her original artwork. still a little wobbly, still very much her, and started screen printing it locally. No eyes, no mouth, just the yellow circle that looked like a sun from the smiley. The first real Circle Tee. 

Since then, the Circle Tee has gone through a lot of iterations. Bright yellow turned into cobalt blue. Then we printed a faded version on black, then came fluorescent pink, and on and on and on. We’ve done overdyed versions, tie-dyed versions, tie-dye inside the circle only, etc. 

We’ve since sold thousands of these very simple yet very statement-making tees to customers all over the world. There’s nothing more exciting than when a customer tells us they spotted a stranger in another country wearing one. And as surreal as it is, we get why the Circle Tee has resonated with so many people.

Eco-fashion customers love them because they are printed on 100% cotton jersey and are fair trade certified. The art and design-focused folks love them because they’re bold without being too fussy. Kids love the circle and fun colors. And because of their simplicity, they’re customizable. You can crop it shorter, cut the sleeves off and turn it into a muscle tee, or overdye it a new color. The best part? After years of wearing and washing, they become as soft as the perfect vintage tee.

More recently, we released a new silhouette: boxy, cropped, and monochromatic, made from a slightly heavier cotton. Same imperfect circle, but a totally different feel. The Boxy Tee is cool, easy, just enough structure to feel put-together but still get a breeze when it’s 100° out.

There’s something kind of funny and beautiful about how far this little circle has traveled—from a hand-drawn doodle to a signature tee seen around the world. And we’re still coming up with new ways to reimagine it. 25+ versions in, and we’re still not done.