Faherty Brand: Alex and Mike Faherty. How Jersey Shore + Manhattan Chic grew to 80 stores.

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Oct 13, 2025

Identical twins Alex and Mike Faherty, founders of the surf-inspired Faherty Brand, share their journey from mobile pop-ups to 80 stores. They discuss their unique all-channel strategy, combining wholesale, retail, and e-commerce, which defied investor skepticism. With backgrounds in fashion and finance, they reveal the importance of long-term preparation and factory partnerships. Their hands-on approach and a focus on family dynamics have been key to their resilience, while creative designs like the Legend Sweater Shirt highlight their commitment to quality.

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ADVICE

Prepare Years Before You Launch

Spend years learning the craft and the business before launching if possible. Alex and Mike spent 12 years preparing in fashion, factories, and finance to reduce early mistakes.

INSIGHT

Product Craft As Competitive Moat

Mike turned garment engineering into a competitive edge by owning fabric and yarn decisions. He used factory relationships to develop unique recycled polyester blends for board shorts.

ANECDOTE

Launch From A Surf Trip

Alex and Mike launched Faherty from a borrowed apartment in Puerto Rico while surfing and launched the website live. They sold board shorts and bikinis first and got early press and orders from that trip.

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When identical twins Mike and Alex Faherty launched their clothing brand, they made a daring move– launching wholesale, retail, and online, pretty much at the same time. Investors said it was outdated, maybe even doomed.

But that contrarian bet helped grow Faherty into a hugely popular brand, built on family, ingenuity, and obsession with detail.

The two brothers spent 12 years preparing for launch—Mike at Ralph Lauren learning the craft of fashion, Alex in finance learning the mechanics of business. In the early days they traveled the country in a beach house on wheels, pulling over on the PCH to sell bathing suits and board shorts. Mike’s designs—surf culture meets big-city chic—took hold online, in department stores, and even swanky boutiques in Japan, giving Faherty the momentum it needed to eventually grew to $250 million in sales.

What You’ll Learn:

Why the “all channels” strategy (wholesale + retail + online) can actually be a competitive advantage.
The power of 12 years of preparation prior to launch.
How to leverage factory relationships and suppliers as true partners.
Why old-school, in-person sales can be a killer marketing tool
How family, trust, and resilience became a core advantage of the Faherty brand.

Timestamps:

(05:41) Mike discovers Bergdorf’s, cashmere, and fashion inspiration as a teenager in NYC

(08:19) Mike gets grief from his basketball teammates for studying fashion at Wash U

(13:38) Mike lands a job at Ralph Lauren to learn fashion from the inside

(21:28) The moment Alex’s mentor tells him that starting a clothing brand is “the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard”

(31:41) The brothers launch Faherty online from a borrowed apartment in Puerto Rico

(35:00) Roaming the country in a mobile beach house that doubles as their first store

(41:34) Early wins with specialty shops

(59:14) The brand nearly runs out of money and gets rescued by a man from Nantucket

(1:07:14) A Covid-era gamble that pays off in massive growth

(1:15:04) How the identical-twin bond became a superpower for the brand

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