Nate C. Hindman: Indiegogo Founder Slava Rubin Reveals the Secret to…
Alison A. Quirk: The Flexible Workplace Comes of Age... Almost
Advertisement
The Next Big Idea? Farm Boy & Girl, Farm-Inspired Fashion
Consider it Abercrombie with a country twist. How two Minnesota natives made farm clothing hip and turned it into a $2.5 million company.
Posted 8/ 29 10 at 1:45 PM | The Next Big Idea?, Advertising & Marketing, Sales, Leadership, Starting a Business, Online Business, Consumer Products & Services, Retail, Inventions & Innovations, The Next Big Idea?
Text Size:
A A A
Sure, Old MacDonald had himself a successful farm, but these days, an oink oink here and a moo moo there just doesn't cut it. Farm Boy & Girl was started by two Minnesota natives who had grown up on farms and didn't think their culture was well represented in the fashion world.In 2002, Dan Adamson and Brian Goldenman decided to test market a new line of clothing at the Minnesota State Fair, one of the largest gathering of livestock owners (not too mention butter sculptures) in the nation. They brought a selection of T-shirts and hats with slogans such as "Farm Boy Field Sports: Watch Where You Step," and attendees ate it up like the fair's signature dish, walleye on a stick.
Right away, the two entrepreneurs knew this cow would milk.
"We thought the concept would work because farmers were being lumped in with cowboys and nobody was speaking to this particular audience," Adamson says. "These are proud communities who consider passing down the family farm from generation to generation a badge of honor."
Adamson and Goldenman have been friends for more than 15 years, and their complementary skill sets have served them as well as Farm Boy & Girl has gone from a booth at the fair to a $2.5 million company. Adamson was a graphic designer who had worked for major retailers like Target, while Goldenman had been in sales and customer service in the telephone industry. However, it was their shared love of having grown up in farming communities that was truly the raison d'etre for starting the company.
From the beginning, the co-founders knew that Farm Boy & Girl had to have major appeal with the young folks who actually plow the fields and tend to the cattle. The strategy was to avoid the mass-market chains and sell the clothes through feed stores, co-ops, farming supply outlets, saddleries, tractor shops and even western-wear clothiers like Cavaender's. The plan was successful, so Farm Boy & Girl stuck with it.
Adamson says farm stores are easy to work with and always pay their bills on time, and they are still reticent to go into stores like Target, although they would like to have a retail outlet of their own at some point. Both men think the Farm Boy & Girl clothes could be a hit on the urban coasts as local organic farming becomes more prevalent -- not to mention its appeal as ironic "red state" apparel -- but a quick check of the company website's store locator doesn't show a brick-and-mortar store to buy goods within 25-miles of New York. (Fear not, city slickers, everything is available for sale on the website.)
"Our primary audience is the real-deal farm kid," Goldenman says. "They are extremely loyal to long-established brands like John Deere and Wrangler, and now we are part of that lifestyle, so we need to remain true and never alienate them."
Remaining vital also means a steady flow of new product. Farm Boy & Girl changes it up twice a year with spring/summer and fall/winter clothing lines, and by expanding what they sell. The company recently added bedding (the pillowcases resemble feed sacks).
Turning over clothing on the same schedule as the crops gives the company a lot of flexibility to create new designs, often inspired by customer feedback, or to discontinue the occasional misfire. Turns out, even farm kids won't buy polo shirts at the feed store -- fancy duds have to come from the mall.
Turning over clothing on the same schedule as the crops gives the company a lot of flexibility to create new designs, often inspired by customer feedback, or to discontinue the occasional misfire. Turns out, even farm kids won't buy polo shirts at the feed store -- fancy duds have to come from the mall.
Another way Farm Boy & Girl keeps it real is through their authentic models. The company is constantly on the lookout for fresh faces to be part of their marketing campaigns. Marie Mahaney, 21, of Brodhead, Wis., was a 2009 model. The University of Wisconsin at Platteville senior, who grew up on a 300-acre farm with 55 head of cattle and 125 ewes, was originally approached at a Future Farmers of America event as a high school sophomore. At 15, she was too young, but once Mahaney turned 18, she contacted Farm Boy & Girl and ended up at a shoot at male counterpart Ross Potter's farm in "the middle of nowhere Minnesota." Mahaney loved the way the pictures turned out and believes they capture the essence of why Farm Boy & Girl has been such a hit.
"The pictures are alluring, a little flirtation between two kids, that typical summer fling," Mahaney says. "Farm Boy & Girl offers a country twist on Abercrombie."
(And Mahaney would know, as she's now modeling for the clothing behemoth before fulfilling her modest dreams of becoming Miss Wisconsin, a licensed veterinarian and, eventually, Secretary of Agriculture.)
Occasionally, the T-shirts get a bit randy, which the younger generation likes, but Midwest farming communities tend to be a bit more conservative than urban areas, so it's a balancing act. Adamson says most designs are more tongue-in-cheek than ribald, while admitting that a lot of farming terms (e.g., silos) are ripe for double entendres.
Even in these fallow times, Farm Boy & Girl has reaped a bounty, growing every year since the fair, where the company still sets up shop every summer. Cheeky selections worn by attractive young folks have been a formula for success. There's a reason the farmer's daughter fantasy lives on -- and online. Even in the most rural of communities, sex appeal sells.
"The models are appealing, but not just us farm girls," Mahaney says. "The buff guys don't hurt."
Ee-i-ee-i-ohhhhhh.
Getty Images
- 'Marriage Penalty' Could Make Costly Return - CNNMoney
- Oil Rises on Optimism for Cliff Deal - FOXBusiness
- Dow 2012: The Studs and Duds - InvestorPlace
- Turning the Corner: Why 2012 Wasn't as Bad as You Think - The Motley Fool
- World’s Longest High-Speed Rail Line Unveiled In China - IBTimes
- FORGET THE DEFICIT: Here's The Real Reason Liberals Want To Hike Taxes On The Rich - Business Insider
- CEOs to Fire in 2013 - 24/7 Wall St.
- DailyFinance Market Minute - DailyFinance
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Cute, Clean, refreshing
I wish any entrepreneur well! I hope these folks make a billion dollars!
However, farm clothes will never be elegant -- at least for me. There is a sneaky trend to "dress down" -- even "casual Fridays" are part of this trend. People who do not "dress up", tend to feel slightly inferiour to those who do. I mean, look what happens when Royalty visits anywhere. Even in the daytime, Royals wear smart suits, (both men and women), hats, (for women, mostly) -- and often gloves. In the crowd, one sees casually dressed, overweight "commoners" -- who LOOK common! What about the American ideal that everyone is equal...or at least should have an equal chance? If one wants to be successful, one DRESSES FOR SUCCESS!
It does have a great casual youth appeal. You can never go wrong with jeans and a t-shirt. And who knows with that concept much like the surfer and skater geared youth clothing, maybe a kid who wears it and isn't an actual farm kid will want to do some actual work rather than pretend. Maybe they can do a line of children's and baby clothes " Lil Ranch Hands"
That bitch on the left looks old enough to be the guys mother.
Future Farmers of America?
Do your research and learn it's just called the FFA these days, since agriculture is about way more than farming.
I'm from MN and saw the booth at the fair, it was a lifesize cut out of a 20ish guy wearing just jeans, I was confused as to why there was an Abercrombie booth in the Horse Colosseum. There were teenage girls posing with it and taking pictures. Nobody was actually looking at the clothes, just the abs. (oh and Walleye on a stick is not the signature food by the way)
My mother never looked like that.
Nature always has many wonderful factors. And someone that has a keen sense can come about with many new ideas concerning about natural things.
Its a sign of the times why people don't dress up. First people have no ballroom dance places anymore. Their scarce. Places can't keep bands going anymore. And also people won't by an expensive dress that they might wear once a year. Also people hate taking time dressing up after a days work. Even New Years Eve dances people wear blues and a dress shirt no tie or they wear a sweater. Also places to get all dressed up to go to usually serve drinks and people now are afraid to drink and drive or can't afford the expensive ticket to get in. Young kids can afford a big night out but people on their own or supporting them selves a family and home haven't got the money any more. Thanks to the greedy government.
Are the clothes manufactured in the USA? Otherwise, they really don't represent anything American, especially good old farming clothes.
well if it wasn,t for the farm where would people get their farm fresh foods and crops where would the world be now,so now help all the farmers ,please we need them,,even down to shoes to walk in and a happy life of not working in an office , happiness is what it all is about,so help bring back the farmers please a country gal martha hat off to you all****************************I PERSONALLY HAVE WORE DRESSES MADE OUT OF FEED SACKS AND LOVED THEM,AND CAN TURN A FEW HEADS ALSO ONLY 125 LBS *********************
BLESS THEIR HEARTS
Casual clothing is NOT good for protesting! Ralph Nader told his "Nader's Radiders" to dress in suits and ties. "We're going to upset corporate executives by what we SAY," he told them. "Let's NOT upset them by the way we LOOK!"