For Father's Day 2015, we wanted to do something special to honor the men who truly helped Stock get it's start: our own dads. Each of our fathers either started or took over a family-run small business and have taught us the spirit of entrepreneurship, how to conduct business in an ethical way, and how to weather the storm when going gets tough. For this collection, we (with some help from our moms) dug up vintage photographs of our dads that we thought best captured the spirit of who they are. With the dates in these pictures ranging from the mid-70's to the mid-80's, it's a testament to the timeless cool of these legends that we were able to create...
Steven: You have a pretty good set up, how did you get to where you are right now? Alan: Well the story goes, I had always wanted to go to law school, but before spending hundreds of thousands on a degree, I decided to get a job in the field as a paralegal. Did the whole corporate 9-5 grind and sure it paid well, but it wasn't fulfilling. I had been living in Lakeview at the time and while the shop was under construction, I noticed some Stumptown Coffee and Bowery Lane Bicycles signs in the window. I was pretty familiar with both so I began riding by often and getting to know Mike the owner. Long story short, I left the...
Steven: Tell us a little about your career path and how you got to where you are now. Wade: I moved to New York in 2008 after college at ASU. I started working for a start up doing sales and I fucking hated it. In 2009 I began working as a captain on the floor at the Standard Grill in the new Standard Hotel NYC. I worked my way up to the bar until I left to bartend and eventually take over the bar program at Rye House. From there I left to be on the opening team of a restaurant called The Dutch. I spent my time there until I was sick of paying New York rent prices and up and...
Introducing the Fulton Street Athletic Wear line. Named after the street of our flagship store, this collection is Stock's first venture into knitwear. For over 40 years, our Chicago factory has made tailored military garments and that has remained our specialty, but for knits we had to look elsewhere. Over the course of several months, we vetted out different knit factories and settled on one in Los Angeles - the land of the knits. Staying true to the history of athletic wear, we decided against synthetic materials, opting instead for 100% cotton French terry that was woven specifically for Stock in LA. This fabric has a great weight to it, breathes well, and wicks up sweat the way sport garb...
A gigantic "Thank You" to everyone who came out to help christen the new Stock store! It was a night filled with stellar jams, great food and drink, but most importantly an awesome crew. We had Wade McElroy of Sportsman's Club fame slinging drinks behind the bar, and Stock-themed snacks via the crew behind Underground Social, the surreptitious local dining club. Visitors were also treated to 20% off all in-store purchases. Plenty more events to come- make sure you stay in the loop!
After spending some time in the space, the design process started, as it often does, with a sketch. Our creative director, Mike, drew up a concept for the space and fashioned up a basic floorplan so that we could start building immediately. The design would incorporate cedar paneling and shelving, with black iron piping for racks and support columns for an industrial, but earthy feel. Tim's father, Tom, took the lead on most of the construction. With him at the helm we were able to knock out most of the base elements of the buildout in only a few days. We salvaged some glass from the demolition, which we installed in the wall behind what would become the bar, to...
We recently had the honor of designing and manufacturing uniforms for the staff of the beautiful new Soho House Chicago. The entire collection was conceived and produced from the ground up, exclusively for the staff of the House. The men's uniforms, consisting of chambray club collar shirts, twill double-breasted vests, corduroy bow ties and wool herringbones trousers, were designed to reflect the casual vibe and refined English heritage of Soho House. The project began with a walk-thru of the raw space at 113 N Green St. The club was still under construction, but the robust decor and buildout were apparent throughout. Once we surveyed the space and discussed creative direction with the management we had a pretty good idea of...
Introducing the Superdanger collection - designed in collaboration with menswear aficionado Alex Maier, better known by his blogger pseudonym: Superdanger.The capsule collection consists of two separate looks designed to be near-mirror opposites. A modern play on the "casual suit" popularized by the gritty crime classics of the 70s, the offering features a matching pant and jacket combo contrasted with floral and denim popovers. Pair matching colors for a unified outfit, or swap one piece in for a contrasting yet cohesive look. ALEX ON THE POPOVERS : The indigo popover came out better than I ever expected. The fabric is very soft to the touch and super lightweight considering it is denim. I am excited to see what It will look...
Our favorite thing to do at Stock is work with other awesome companies that we admire. When we heard Land and Sea Dept., the team behind Longman & Eagle and Parson's Chicken & Fish, was working on a new concept that needed aprons- we jumped at the opportunity. The criteria was simple: make a high-quality apron that's functional and attractive. When you're designing with functionality in mind, it's easy to over-design. To avoid unnecessary bells and whistles, we met with the L&S team to discuss how the aprons would be worn, what function they'd serve, and with what tools. The next step was sourcing, development, and sampling. The Stock x Thank You. aprons feature a box-stitched utility strap across the chest and a 5-compartment pocket below...
