About Hunky Tops

Hi, I'm Christian Orellana, the founder of Hunky Tops.

It started with a sewing machine.

I grew up in Santiago, Chile, in an old house with a walled patio, an avocado tree and a grapevine. My grandmother had a pedal sewing machine, the kind you work with your foot, and she used it to make clothes for my sister's Barbies. I sat next to her for hours, completely hooked on the idea that you could make tiny clothes for tiny people.

I also drew constantly. Then I grew up, became an engineer and put the sketchbook away for a long time.

Then I moved to Maine.

In 2023, after several years in North Carolina, my husband and I moved to Portland, Maine. Suddenly there were pride flags on the porches and queer-friendly shops on every block, and it felt like I could finally breathe out. I wanted to wear my pride on my sleeve. Literally.

So I went shopping, and every queer shirt I found sat at one of two extremes. On one end, wall-to-wall rainbows. On the other, gear made for the bar that would raise some eyebrows on a Zoom call. I wanted the middle: shirts that say something to the guys who get it and just look like a great tee to everyone else. Shirts for those who know.

So I started making them.

The name, and the bear

Hunky. Tops. You get it.

I've always loved the word hunky. And tops, well, I make tops. If your mind went somewhere else first, you're in the right place.

To me, hunky is a feeling. If you feel hunky, you are hunky.

One of the first designs I made was a simple little bear. I couldn't decide what he should say, so I gave him a "GROWL?" with a question mark and called it done. He's still my bestseller. Go figure.

Meet the Growl Bear

T-shirts are about identity.

You decide what to wear on your chest, and it says who you are before you even open your mouth. Wear the right top and you start to notice the recognition. The compliments soon follow.

A customer once wrote to tell me he'd met another Hunky Tops guy at a party. They live in different states, and they recognized each other by their shirts. That's the whole idea.

How Hunky Tops works

One guy, most jobs

I design most of the shirts, run the website, write the emails and answer every message myself. In Chile we say the best shops are the ones tended by their owners. This one is.

Collabs with LGBTQ+ Artists

Some designs come from queer artists I truly admire, and I'm proud to have their versions of Hunky Tops in the shop. They're all credited by name.

Printed when you order

Every shirt is printed for you, on demand, by my printer partners here in the US.

Queer and Latino-owned

Raised in Santiago, based in Maine, and making shirts for the Hunky Tribe since 2023.