This is an episode of the Glossy Fashion Podcast, which features candid conversations about how today’s trends are shaping the future of the fashion industry. More from the series →
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In 2016, Neil Morgan discovered outdoor apparel brand Filson through a pop-up store in New York City and the fashion blog A Continuous Lean. Morgan was instantly drawn to the brand’s heritage and quality, and that same year, he joined the Filson team as a part-time sales associate in Seattle. He then worked his way up into a full-time role, working in project management, operational and marketing roles. Morgan became president of the brand in 2022 before transitioning to COO and now head of strategy.
Under Morgan’s leadership, Filson has recently earned buzz through appearances in series like the Western drama “Yellowstone.” Now, Filson is moving into womenswear and considering expanding the brand experience to hotels and cafés. Its partnership with distribution company WP Lavori has also allowed Filson to make inroads in Europe. It has 11 stores in North America, with an 80-20 DTC-to-wholesale split. It’s stocked at retailers including Huckberry.
On the latest Glossy Podcast, Morgan delves into Filson’s growth, new fundraising and international expansion. He also shares how he intends to evolve the Filson brand while retaining its core audience.
Below are excerpts of the conversation, which have been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.
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On extending organic collaborations
“[Country singer] Chris Stapleton has been a fan of the brand his whole life, and his father was a big fan of the brand. Nine years ago, he walked into our Fourth Avenue store in Seattle, met our store manager at the time and described his interest in the brand. Ever since then, it’s been this organic, authentic relationship with him. Working with him and his team meant pulling together a product line that was servicing his needs as a guy on the road. We put together a luggage collection that supports him and his team as they’re out on the road touring. We were able to bring back an archival piece — our outfitter bag — [because of his interest in the brand]. With all of our collaborations, the person is integral in the design and he’s picking out the materials. He’s helping with the content creation.”
“This costume team behind “Yellowstone” came to us looking for things that would feel very authentic to the Western lifestyle. We were able to find things within our product line that support those characters, who wear items like our short Land Cruiser, as well. For [one of the characters], Cole, it’s been a staple piece of his persona for five seasons now.”
Translating brand heritage to retail
“Filson is an experiential brand. From the standpoint of the content we create, we try to take customers into the wild by showcasing [our products] in a variety of environments. Our stores offer that feeling a little bit, too. Our store in New York City has a deconstructed 18th-century barn door found in Oregon that we brought out here to make the interior facade for the space. [The stores] are nostalgic, refer to the history and capture the Filson heritage.”
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How to market heritage
“The Western lifestyle and the [idea] of a heritage brand is coming to the forefront of fashion and interest. We’re in the moment of trying to capitalize on that. It’s a combination, from long-form media and doing bigger productions to those five-, 10- and 30-second snippets that you can get someone to engage with and move to the next stages of the funnel. We’re doing a lot of connected TV advertising and seeing success with 15- or 30-second clips around football this past year on Amazon Prime. It’s about connecting to those spaces but knowing you only have this short moment in time to capture the audience’s attention. And so, we’re focused on what you do to get them to make that leap from ‘I see and like this brand’ to ‘I need to go to the website and read more about it.'”
