Threadless, founded by Jake Nickell and Jacob DeHart, is a unique online apparel store that is community-centered. Members of Threadless can submit t-shirt designs online, which are then put to a public vote on a scale of 0 to 5. Each week, the work of six designers are selected, and those designers receive $2000 in cash, along with an extra $500 in store credit, or an additional $200 cash. The selected designs are then printed and sold through the website’s online store for others to purchase.
New shirts are released every Monday to the public, and are printed in limited batches, so as to keep all designs exclusive. When all shirts in a particular batch are sold out, reprinting for the design may occur, if the demand by customers is high enough. Special contests are also held by Threadless on occasion, in conjunction with various sponsors.