Niche publications are having a moment, and Faherty has jumped onto the bandwagon.
The New York-based brand is launching a quarterly magazine/catalogue, The Faherty Chronicles, that is intended as a coffee table-style publication rather than a sales vehicle.
The idea of producing a magazine has long been a passion of cofounder and creative director Mike Faherty, who had created a concept book several years ago. But when Abby Morgan, executive vice president of marketing, joined the company 14 months ago, the idea was finally brought to fruition.
“It’s been a passion project of Mike’s since well before I came,” Morgan said. Her prior experience at Free People, where she had spearheaded the company’s magalog and made it more editorial, was the impetus Faherty needed to plunge ahead with its first print product.
The Faherty Chronicles Volume #1 is 56 pages of stories that are intended to connect with the brand’s top customers. Among the features in the debut publication are pieces on regenerative fashion and a deep dive into the issue with Arizona Muse, a model and activist devoted to cleaning up the industry; a look at a New York based-surfboard shaper and tips to catching a wave on Rockaway Beach in Queens, N.Y., and other beach towns, and an introduction to Grlswirl, a group of female skateboarders from Venice Beach in California.
The Faherty Chronicles
Courtesy of Faherty
Although the publication includes photo shoots of Faherty product and highlights some key pieces such as the Sunwashed Tee 2.0, made from regenerative cotton, the stretch twill Dune Utility Pant, and the new lighter weight Movement Monterey shirt, the goal of the magazine is not to sell product, Morgan stressed. “It’s an editorial product,” she said. “We are not prospecting with this.”
Instead, she said Faherty will be mailing close to 200,000 copies to its top customers and encourage them to relax, read and flip through the pages rather than scroll on their phones.
Faherty is still a family-owned business and that shows in the publication, where the introductory page is penned by the Fahertys followed by a piece from Kerry Docherty, Alex Faherty’s wife and chief impact officer, on her morning routine — a cup of coffee with lots of half and half followed by a walk on the beach. Alex Faherty, chief executive officer, weighs in with a look at the Faherty’s Sun & Waves All Day Market café in Spring Lake, N.J., and his twin brother tackled the regenerative story.
Morgan said the editorial will be written by the internal team along with some freelancers with expertise in the topics near and dear to the hearts of the Fahertys and their customers. The brand got its start in 2013 when the brothers left their jobs to create a sustainably sourced East Coast-skewed men’s sportswear collection with a muted color palette that would offer an alternative to the brightly colored California surf brands. Mike Faherty majored in fashion design at Washington University in St. Louis and worked for Ralph Lauren before starting the company, while Alex is a Yale graduate with a background in finance and Docherty was a human rights lawyer.
Morgan said the plan is to print four issues a year, timed around the company’s seasonal launches. “But if we find there’s an appetite, we’ll do more,” she said.
The summer issue is already in the works and will include stories centered around Costa Rica where the publication will take on pieces about surfing, hotels, restaurants and musicians in the country.
