Outdoorsy Kentucky clothing brand gains steam worldwide

Mark Wystrach of Midland performs while wearing
New Frontier Outfitters gear (Photo from NFO)

A clothing company based in Morehead, Kentucky, is building a cult following with "retro-outdoors wear" and "American blue-collar chic," Alfred Miller reports for the Louisville Courier Journal.

Brothers Jared and Josh Ravenscraft founded New Frontier Outfitters in 2016 because they felt that most of the big-name outdoors clothing brands, like Patagonia, were focused on the American West. They wanted to give consumers an option that promoted adventures in Appalachia as well as more general outdoorsy gear, Miller reports.

The first designs were based on retro ski badges and their father's collection of old trucker hats. "Today, New Frontier Outfitters has a brick-and-mortar store in Morehead with outposts in Pagosa Springs, Colorado, and Cave Run Lake in Kentucky [near Morehead]. The brothers say they regularly ship hats, shirts and other gear across the country and the world," Miller reports.

The brand is starting to make a splash with celebrities. Channing Tatum visited their store in 2017 and wore a branded hat in an Entertainment Tonight interview, and country singer Tyler Booth wore one of their shirts in a concert last month, Miller reports.

"But perhaps the brand’s biggest coup has been their association with Grammy-nominated country group Midland, which shares a retro aesthetic with New Frontier Outfitters," Miller reports. "Midland’s broad appeal has meant New Frontier Outfitters orders from faraway locales, including Sonora, Mexico, where Mike Zapata says he and his oldies band, Los Hijos de Frank, sport the Ravencrafts’ hats and other retro apparel he first spotted Midland wearing."