Ken Pilot interviews Alex and Mike Faherty, co-founders and leaders of eponymous apparel brand, Faherty for this episode of The Retail Pilot. 

Alex is a co-founder and CEO at Faherty. Prior to starting at Faherty, Alex spent over a decade in Investment Banking and Private Equity. Formerly a football player at Yale, Alex takes a coaching mentality in how he runs the business, knowing that so much of a brand's success is who makes up the team. When he has time, and isn't coaching T-ball, he likes to surf.

Mike wrote his college essay about starting Faherty Brand, going on to major in Fashion Design at Washington University in St. Louis before spending a decade in New York’s fashion industry. His passion is sourcing high-quality fabrics from around the world and developing innovative new ones himself. Mike loves playing basketball and finding off-the-beaten-track surf spots and restaurants.

 Key Highlights:

1. Faherty has had a successful business with Australian tourists in the States, as the brand resonates well with English-speaking customers. They're planning to expand further, starting with a partner in Australia.

2. Retail store growth is seen as a valuable way to capture customers, as it allows them to experience the brand in person and make a more significant commitment to the higher-priced products.

3. The founders emphasize the authenticity of retail stores, as customers can't be deceived by appearances, and they have to genuinely like the products.

4. Faherty is focused on finding unique, interesting locations for its retail stores, rather than following a cookie-cutter approach. They look for underserved areas with potential customers.

5. Catalogs have been an important acquisition channel for Faherty since 2015. They are looking to evolve the catalog experience to stand out and feel more like a magazine or coffee table book.

6. Faherty is shifting its approach to social media, aiming to create platform-specific content for various channels. They recognize the need to adapt to changing social media trends.

7. The founders discuss their tech stack, highlighting platforms like Shopify for e-commerce and New Store for POS. They also use NetSuite for ERP and have implemented in-house tech solutions for design and development.

8. Faherty is exploring how AI can enhance the customer experience, especially in terms of managing inbound and outbound communications efficiently.

9. One of the challenges for Faherty is ensuring that as the brand grows, it still feels intimate and special to consumers, rather than becoming too corporate or generic.

10. Mike emphasizes the importance of refining the sampling process using AI to ensure that only the most promising designs move forward, reducing sample expenses.