SKOWHEGAN -- The next time you see an NFL football player, look at his T-shirt. It just might be from the new Elykssor Clothing brand created by a former Skowhegan Area High School graduate and football player and his friend.

"We have people who are friends of ours, people from the Chiefs, the Chargers and the Jaguars, who are wearing them," said SAHS and Husson College graduate and former football player Kyle Poissonnier, who lives in Portland. "Ten guys on the (Kansas City) Chiefs have our shirts now."

The T-shirts are certainly not just for football players, he said.

"They are more of a lifestyle brand. It's more about what we stand for," said Poissonnier, adding that he and fellow entrepreneur Ross Jatkola devised the brand as a marketing concept.

Elykssor, he said, "means to prolong life indefinitely, to turn whatever you touch into gold. It is a play off the 'elixir of life.' We make clothing for people who believe in themselves and want to become successful."

Poissonnier said because they wanted a shirt that would hold up, they chose a high-end fabric from U.S. manufacturer American Apparel and opted to offer only limited designs.

"Once we use a design, we will never use it again, except for the 'Prolong Life,' " which is the Elykssor Clothing logo, he said.

The shirt then becomes collectable art, he said. Five current designs include a silhouette of a man with a cigar, a wine glass in black and metallic gold, and "a buyer's favorite," a heart pouring onto to the chest.

"That stands for putting your heart and soul into everything you do," said Poissonnier, who graduated from Husson in May with a degree in marketing. He also attended the University of Albany for two years for business communications study, and he played football there for two years.

The shirts come with a postcard-size tag attached to the shirt, telling the Elykssor story and what it means to owned a limited-edition specimen.

Poissonnier said word of mouth is helping sales that are now climbing toward the thousand mark. He said they haven't made any money yet, because they are dumping it back into the company.

"The shirt is 100 percent cotton, stretches and doesn't shrink, and it fits a little slimmer than most T-shirts. We like the way it fits," he said. "Some people buy it because they want to wear it for the message, others because of brand loyalty."

The shirt sells for $30, and $1 of each sale is donated to the Multiple Sclerosis Research Foundation, he said.

Poissonnier said the business was launched carefully in March.

"We began with four men's and one women's shirt. The plan was to start out with a only a couple hundred shirts to see how the idea sold.

"By the beginning of summer we had only about 10 left," he said.

Sensing they had a concept that had potential, the partners began broadening the plan. They contracted with photographers -- 564 Productions with Peter Bissell and Brandon Johnson, who added photos and videography to the package -- to help introduce the brand.

Several videos have been released, and Elykssor has been advertised and marketed on the YouTube, MySpace and Facebook Web sites.

Recently, a Web site was launched at www.elykssor.bigcartel.com.

The Elykssor Clothing concept demonstrates how modern marketing can be done with cellular telephones, e-mail and the Internet -- with maybe a few parties thrown in.

Poissonnier said about 1,000 people were introduced to the new T-shirt brand in June at a party on Cape Cod. The sales were successful, with $200 to $300 donated to the Multiple Sclerosis Research Foundation, he said.

"We're having another party from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Nov. 15 at 51 Wharf in Portland's Old Port. Anybody can come in. All the shirts will be there, and new ones unveiled," he said.

Otherwise, everything is done either by telephone or online, Poissonnier said.

"It would be pretty tough to walk into Macy's with an armload of shirts and try to sell our idea," he said. "We believe we are changing the world one shirt at a time by sharing our beliefs, art and passion with everyone."

Darla L. Pickett -- 474-9534, ext. 341

dpickett@centralmaine.com