Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Steve Stracqualursi. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Steve, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?

The goal has always been to build a unique brand with high quality products. Regarding the name, the twelve weight fly rod seemed like the perfect analogy. It’s a big fish rod. It’s a very specialized piece of equipment that  many fly shops don’t stock. We felt the name embodied what we wanted to do, make specialized apparel and accessories. The tarpon naturally emerged as an iconic symbol for the brand because it’s a classic 12wt rod species. There is more to the story but that’s the abridged version.

Steve, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

The founders and key team members are all avid fly fishermen–always have been. The brand is propped up by a group that loves being on and in the water. The motive was simple. We love to fish and fly fishing is somewhat underserved from an apparel perspective. For most larger brands it’s a small off-shoot department. We thought, let’s make it our focus and give it everything we’ve got. It’s hard to fathom that we are going on our 11th year.

We’re big on utilitarianism and bold on simplicity, probably because the team is very design heavy. Function before aesthetics is important to and helps guide our decisions. At its core fly fishing is very simple actively, people may over complicate it with gadgets, but at the end of the day, you’re throwing hair on a hook and fighting fish on light tackle. It’s pure sport and we want our clothing to feel the same way. Easy and natural but details are important. We pull our inspiration from nature and the outdoors.

Our small motivated team is very eclectic and I think that shows through in our products. Some of our crew have an extensive product background, while others do not. Some are art directors and typographers while others studied fine art and color theory. When you start mixing together these different perspectives and a wide range of industry knowledge–with everyone free to speak their minds and ask questions–it makes for a quirky environment to work in and the result is a product line that feels a little bit different.

We’re super proud of our performance line. The SUNWT Collection is full-bleed patterning which allows very cool prints. We took inspiration from old rugby jerseys and some photos we’d found of Heminway in the Keys. It’s been a lot of fun seeing those designs transform into modern technical apparel. Keep in mind that our latest developments all follow heritage styles like the WORKWT Glove, FREEWT Shirt, OCEANWT Hoodie and 7 Mile Button-Down Shirt (all award winning within the fly fishing industry). Those styles paved our way and reinforced our optimism.

The Cotton Collection was a labor of love. When we first launched the brand we did what most small brands do. We screen printed on blank tees. Something about that just didn’t feel right to us, so we set out to build our own. In the end, that meant sourcing fabric, custom dying and going through a lot of rounds of prototypes but as always the more challenging path taken is usually the most rewarding.

How’d you think through whether to sell directly on your own site or through a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc.

We are a direct-to-consumer brand so our website is our store. 10 years ago (founded in 2012) the landscape was very different. Website functionality was nowhere near as evolved as it is today and the digital marketing arena was in it’s infancy but the pace of change remains the same – fast. The direct distribution model allows you to control your messaging and reach the consumer directly. The social platforms all allow your product catalog to be seamlessly linked which really improves the power of your marketing efforts. The challenges though are many. Product photography, image prep, product copy, site functionality, etc are things that require time and money to produce/maintain. The internet may seem like it instantly opens you up to the world but in reality you are a small fish in a huge ocean and getting people to find you takes a lot of energy and resources.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

In 2017 we won the Gray’s Best Award for our cotton/linen hats. We knew we were on top something as that exposure drew industry attention to us. So we broadened the styles. That whole hat line is something we’re very proud of. Fishermen always need hats and we think ours are as comfortable and performance oriented as they come . The optic black under brim to reduce glare is also a really nice feature.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.twelveweight.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/twelveweightapparel/?mc_cid=0d0557e453&mc_eid=de80204ee8
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/12weight?mc_cid=0d0557e453&mc_eid=de80204ee8
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/twelveweight?mc_cid=0d0557e453&mc_eid=de80204ee8
• Other: These are short brand videos that help tell our story: https://youtu.be/zM3GYxiXpvw https://youtu.be/P7n-zuPRAek https://youtu.be/aVoHs0g4FI0

Image Credits
Will Benson, Nick Shirghio, Steve Stracqualursi, Ben Severance/Timber & Frame