Who wears a tie these days?
The tie has been, for better or worse, maligned as a symbol of corporate repression, and is seen by many as a signal of the past. Certainly, modernity demands the death of formality and an updated uniform of jeans and yoga pants. Denver-based Knotty Tie Company has other ideas.
“The necktie is seen as a dead garment, and it catches a lot of flack for being the symbol of corporate drudgery,” Jeremy Priest, cofounder at Knotty Tie said. “But we realized how unfair that was when we started wearing ties with dinosaurs printed on them. Neckties are not a dead garment.”
The founders of Knotty Tie did not set out to build an e-commerce garment company. Instead, they were looking to create a company that could employ relocated refugees, utilizing the sorts of skills refugees already posses. Three years and one successful Kickstarter later, the Knotty Tie Company now employs 17 people, including 8 resettled refugees — the handsewn and locally made ties are incidental.
Knotty Tie makes custom designed neckties — and, increasingly, things like bowties, pocket squares, and women’s scarves. You can send them your designs and they’ll set you up with a designer that will make your suggestions into a piece of art work. If you want something unique — be it your company logo, something sentimental, or just something stupid on a tie, these are your guys.
“For some reason everyone wants their cat's face on tie,” Mark Johnson, CEO and Cofounder at Knotty Tie said.
As horrifying a prospect as that is, the company says that they have seen some really beautiful and heartwarming ties created as well. One man teamed up with his son, who suffered from Autism, to create a tie covered in phrases that reminded the son of his father. That particular tie ended up being covered in words like ‘stinky’ and ‘smelly’. In honesty though, that probably sums up most of our fathers.
The company expanded rapidly this year, more than doubling their number of employees. They said that while the majority of ties they ship stay in the United States, they’ve seen significant interest from abroad as well. Shipping is now available to over 40 countries.
When I asked them if I could get my face printed on a scarf for my wife, they said, “Sure, we don’t judge. If you want a horrible idea printed, we’ll print it for you.” Thanks guys.
