We mentioned the concept behind Threadless in our Brand Me section. It started out as a online community that accepts graphic artwork submissions for teeshirts. Designs are voted on by Threadless members, and selected tees go into production. Designers get a cut of the profit. Pretty smart. But you may be thinking, how much DIY is really going to push forward?

Well, the forecast is very good indeed, especially seeing the popularity of Threadless grow so much that they've opened their very first store in Chicago. At this point, you would expect it to get boring and mass, but Threadless has all sorts of cool activities going on that do really stem from "community". There’s new tees every Friday, learn something upstairs in the gallery, reusable bag coupons and a weekly mashup store window paintings. Threadless seems keen to open in other markets, but don’t think you’ll see them in any big-box retailers, as they’ve made it a part of their mantra to keep the Threadless community afloat and not get lost in a sea of tees. Threadless 3011 North Broadway Avenue, Chicago.