Photograph by Jonathan S. Pollack
In a designer T-shirt market flooded with splashy faux tattoos and bejeweled skulls and crossbones, Zrodfx (pronounced “zero defects”) keeps it simple. Founder T.J. Vytlacil (pronounced “Vil-leh-cheal”) prides himself on bucking mainstream trends. “We got turned down from a boutique in Texas because we didn’t have enough skulls in our collection,” says Vytlacil, shaking his head. “That’s what she said—verbatim.” (In fact, Zrodfx skips the skulls altogether.)
Inspired by Vytlacil’s love of motocross, Zrodfx started as an idea for a sports-clothing line. In October 2007, without any previous design experience, Vytlacil and business partner Adam Frager launched the company, selling their cotton T-shirts at Woody’s in Frontenac, in boutiques in Chicago, and online.
Hand-printed in St. Louis, all of the shirts are part of a limited-edition collection, which Vytlacil stresses isn’t elitist, but rather reason to continually create. Influenced by Czech artist Alfons Mucha, Vytlacil calls the brand “underground but not.” He’s even enacted a password for purchasing shirts online—not to dissuade customers from buying, but in fact to promote the brand. “Now that got them engaged, and now they are more into this clothing line than they were before,” he says.
It’s not the only thing Zrodfx is doing differently. The company is working with local charity LiveFeed and L.A.–based nonprofit ActiveMusic by helping plan events and design T-shirts for fundraisers. “We really want to latch onto an idea like it and take it nationally,” he says of the company’s charity involvement.
For now, Vytlacil, a Webster University grad, will keep working as an event coordinator for Flamingo Bowl (his day job) and occasionally tending bar at Monarch. He and Monarch bartender Ted Kilgore are also discussing plans for a private cocktail bar. But he sees Zrodfx branching out beyond St. Louis, perhaps even going international someday. “Designing graphics on T’s is where we wanted to start, and then kind of leave that behind and take that to another level,” he says.
Surfing zrodfx.com
Vytlacil spotlights three favorites from his T-shirt line.
1. “This is exactly what we are about: color, shape, and simplicity,” he says of Movie Circles, a women’s gray T ($48). “It makes me want to throw on a top hat and a cane.”
2. Vytlacil created the Ipple-G design ($48, pictured) because, as he so elegantly puts it: “I like girls and guns.” The Quentin Tarantino–inspired men’s shirt uses a sketch of a gun that Vytlacil’s grandfather gave him when he was 12. “Can you see the girl in there?” he asks. “For some people, I have to point that out.”
3. Vytlacil’s love of silverback gorillas shines through on this blue-and-gray T ($48). He and his business partner admire the endangered species so much that 2 percent of profits go to The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund. A gorilla graphic is also featured on each hand-sewn Zrodfx tag.
