Faherty’s Cofounder on Turning a Childhood Goal Into a Global Brand
In slightly over a decade, surf-inspired fashion brand Faherty has expanded into a nine-figure business.
At the heart of the brand story is family. Twins Alex and Mike Faherty made their childhood dream of running a clothing company together a reality in 2013, leveraging the skill sets they each bring to the table. With a background in finance, cofounder and chief executive officer Alex Faherty focuses on the business side of management, while cofounder and chief creative officer Mike Faherty provides creative direction and design know-how learned from an almost-decade tenure at Ralph Lauren.
The brand may have been the brothers’ brainchild, but it quickly turned into a family affair. Their interior decorator mother, Ninie Faherty, designed most of their stores, and in the early days of the brand she even ran their warehouse. Alex Faherty’s wife Kerry Docherty is on board as chief impact officer to lead corporate philanthropy and sustainability initiatives, leveraging her law background.
“It’s been such a cool thing to be able to build this with your family. No one cares more than the four of us,” Alex Faherty told Ian Fredericks, chief executive officer of Hilco Global Capital Solutions and executive director of Hilco’s consumer and retail platform. “We could never hire someone who would care and have as much invested in it, and we’ve all complemented each other.”
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Today, the company counts around 130 corporate employees and more than 600 staff in its stores. “It’s been an amazing journey of learning leadership and building culture,” said Faherty. “What I’ve learned is the people are what makes this business successful.”
Fittingly for its coastal aesthetic, Faherty debuted its first flagship in Malibu. And an early retail concept was a food truck-inspired mobile store that was a “beach house on wheels.” In March, Faherty opened its first international store in Biarritz, France, a recurring travel spot for Mike Faherty.
From a product design perspective, Faherty’s goal is to take classic American heritage style and infuse it with comfort elements like stretch. “Mike is a chef, and it’s his job to really find the best ingredients and put it all together to make garments that last a long time and are comfortable or beautifully made and have our Faherty style,” said Faherty.
One constant element of Faherty’s recipe is sustainability. Although its B Corp status came later, environmental consciousness has been ingrained in Faherty’s supply chain from the start. The debut product line was swimwear constructed of fabric made of recycled water bottles, and today roughly 80 percent of the brand’s materials are sustainable. Choosing sustainability comes with added costs, but Faherty said, “It’s just been etched into every decision that we’ve made.”
On this episode of WWD Voices for Retail Rx, Faherty speaks about the brand’s early days, running a responsible business, “go big or go home” risks that paid off and how he sees artificial intelligence supporting the company as it scales.
