Presale closed! Arriving by early October! 

We promise, The Guardian is worth the wait. 🖤

The Guardian is printed on our customer-favorite Comfort Colors tees, loved for their soft, lived-in feel and relaxed fit. Each shirt will be printed locally in Salem by Lucky House Manufacturing, making this collaboration a little love letter to Salem from beginning to end.

For four years, artist Justin Valliere of Black Coffiend has helped us tell stories about Salem through some of Nocturne’s most beloved exclusive tees. Each collaboration begins with the history, beauty, darkness, and peculiar magic of the city we love, and Justin transforms those ideas into something unmistakably his own.

For Salem’s 400th anniversary, we wanted to create something particularly special.

Meet The Guardian.

Created exclusively for Nocturne by Black Coffiend, The Guardian is a love letter to Salem, Massachusetts, and the many lives this strange and beautiful city has lived across four centuries.

At its center sits a black cat, watchful and knowing, imagined as the mythical keeper of Salem’s history. A silent witness to generations coming and going, carrying the city’s stories, secrets, triumphs, tragedies, and ghosts from one century into the next.

Around The Guardian, Salem unfolds like a memory. Tall ships recall its storied maritime past. Derby Wharf Light keeps watch over the harbor. Historic homes and weathered gravestones remember those who came before us. Candlelight, beloved literature, a crescent moon, and pieces of Salem lore emerge from the darkness, each another thread in the story of a city that has never been only one thing.

Around The Guardian’s neck hangs Nocturne’s lantern, worn like a talisman. A tiny light carried through the centuries, illuminating what came before while keeping watch over the stories still being written.

Rendered in Justin’s unmistakable style with the richness and romance of an antique Victorian illustration, The Guardian feels less like a souvenir and more like an artifact unearthed from the pages of an old Salem book: romantic, mysterious, historical, literary, beautifully strange, and perhaps just a little haunted.

Above it all stands the place that inspired every detail:

SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS

Created in celebration of Salem’s 400th anniversary in 2026, The Guardian honors not simply how long Salem has existed, but how many lives this city has lived. Its maritime history and literature. Its architecture and art. Its folklore and ghosts. Its darkness and beauty. And the generations of people who have loved it, shaped it, and carried its stories forward.

Four centuries later, Salem is still becoming. And The Guardian is still watching.

IMPORTANT PRESALE INFORMATION

Presale closes Friday, September 18. Ordering during the presale is the best way to secure your preferred size, particularly as we head into our busiest season of the year in Salem.

Please allow a minimum of 4 weeks after the presale closes for processing and production. Your order will not ship immediately, and four weeks should not be interpreted as a guaranteed delivery date. Production may take longer, and we sincerely appreciate your patience while your shirts are being locally printed for us.

If you need an item by a specific date, please do not place a presale order expecting guaranteed delivery by that date.

If your order contains other merchandise, the entire order will be held until The Guardian is ready to ship. If you would like your other items sooner, please place a separate order.

And one more important thing: your presale purchase is your vote. The response to this release will help us determine whether The Guardian joins our ongoing Black Coffiend x Nocturne rotation after the presale ends.

If you want to see this mysterious little keeper of Salem stick around, now is the time. 🖤

The Guardian
Black Coffiend x Nocturne
Locally printed by Lucky House Manufacturing
Salem, Massachusetts | 2026

PRESALE ENDS SEPTEMBER 18 • PLEASE ALLOW AT LEAST 4 WEEKS FOR PROCESSING