COMING SOON: PRESALE | The Guardian Tee by Black Coffiend x Nocturne

A guardian of the city. A keeper of its stories. Four centuries of Salem.

Our newest Black Coffiend x Nocturne exclusive is coming soon.

For four years, artist Justin Valliere of Black Coffiend has helped us tell stories about Salem through art, creating exclusive designs for Nocturne that capture the history, beauty, darkness, and peculiar magic of the city we love. His work has become such a special part of Nocturne, and each year we get to dream up another little piece of Salem together.

For 2026, and Salem’s 400th anniversary, we wanted to create something that felt especially meaningful.

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 who has been here all along, watching generations come and go as the city changes around him, carrying its stories, secrets, triumphs, tragedies, and ghosts from one century into the next.

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

And 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 was never meant to feel like a souvenir. It feels instead 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, left their mark upon it, and carried its stories forward.

Four centuries later, Salem is still becoming.

And The Guardian is still watching.

PRESALE LAUNCHING SOON

The Guardian is not yet available to order. Presale details, sizing, pricing, and estimated arrival information will be announced soon. Quantities for our first production run will be limited.

The Guardian
Black Coffiend x Nocturne
Salem, Massachusetts | 2026