Brackish is a Charleston-based fashion company that started with a pair of friends making feather bowties in a garage. Now, Brackish is sold at every Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus around the country, worn by celebrities and backyard wedding guests alike. One never-been-done-before idea turned into a full-blown fashion movement fueled by friendship, gumption, and unmistakably Southern roots. We got to chat with co-founders Ben Ross and Jeff Plotner to learn how Brackish became one of the coolest Southern accessory brands around.
It started with a friendship and a unique groomsman gift.
In 1997, Ben Ross and Jeff Plotner matriculated at Wofford College to play sports and became fast friends. They celebrate their company’s ten-year anniversary and 25 years of friendship this year. When it came time for Ben to walk down the aisle, he didn’t want to give the run-of-the-mill monogrammed gift. “I wanted to give my groomsmen and my family something they couldn’t just go out and buy,” Ben says. “A gift from my heart that showed them how much they meant to me. Being an outdoorsman, I’ve always tied my own flies and fletched my own arrows. So I’ve always gravitated towards feathers and art and usage,” Ben says.
One day, Ben happened to lay a turkey feather body flat on a table and noticed its triangular shape. “The natural shape, conformation, and tapering of that feather fit a bow tie perfectly,” Ben says. “That was the lightbulb moment. My wife didn’t believe that it was going to go over too well, so she made me wear it to a game and garden event. After the response there was pretty positive, she okayed it as the wedding gift.”
It dawned on Jeff (who was uninspired in law school at the time) that this could be something special. “A successful business starts with an original and authentic idea,” Jeff says. “And Ben came up with it. It’s really difficult in these times to find something that nobody else has ever done before. And Ben did that.” Jeff had the vision and foresight to take what Ben gave the groomsmen and turn it into something bigger than anyone’s imagination.
Jeff called Ben and said, “I think we’ve got something here with this feather bowtie. Do you want to partner up!?” And, Ben admits, it’s really Jeff’s drive, determination, and vision that have carried Brackish to where it is today. “He always saw Brackish as more than what it currently was,” Ben adds. The 100 bowties a year that Ben was making for Father’s Day or Christmas presents has turned into the rapidly growing company it is today.
In 2019, they welcomed women’s accessories to the lineup.
The team always had its sights set on including the women in their line, but they spent three years in research and development before launching this arm in 2019. “The level of craftsmanship of the bowties has been elevated to such a stature that we wanted to make sure the women’s line release was on par with that and up to expectations,” Ben says.
“We went back to the drawing boards to get all the correct components — sourcing the material, making sure the weight was right, the feather layout was right,” Ben says. In the most serendipitous way imaginable, Brackish launched the women’s line right as weddings and events came to a screeching halt. Thankfully, women kept shopping, and this new line carried them through the pandemic. “There was a guiding hand at play there,” Ben adds. “It was surreal.”
A few “oh, wow” moments have put Brackish’s success into perspective.
For Jeff, it was seeing Bill Murray wearing a Brackish bowtie on the red carpet at the 2014 Oscars. Ben is proud of the team for the efforts that brought multiple invitations to the White House — once for the Made in America series and second when they implemented a massive mask manufacturing business for frontline workers during the pandemic.
Winning the Garden & Gun style category for our women’s fashion accessories was another proud moment for Ben. “Never in a million years did I think I’d be in women’s accessories,” Ben says. “To see where the cuff [bracelet] started and where the cuff ended, and where the fan earrings started and where they ended — it’s been something magical to behold. It’s such an honor to get to wake up and work with such talented individuals every day.”
Ben and Jeff debunk some common misconceptions about Brackish.
A hopeful Jeff used to walk into some would-be retailers at the beginning, and people would say, “Son, we still tie our own bowties around here.” It took some time, but Jeff has debunked the myth that you have to tie a bowtie for it to be an acceptable formal appendage. Brackish bowties are stylish and effortless.
For Ben, it’s important for people to understand that birds are never harmed to obtain feathers. Brackish sources feathers in two different eco-friendly ways: One is through the farm-to-table movement. “Your pheasant farmers, quail farmers, and chucker farmers raise birds to go to market,” Ben explains.
“We’ve developed relationships with these farmers to take steps after they harvest the birds to strategically take feathers we want to incorporate into our designs. The farmer recognizes a revenue stream from something he used to throw in the trash, and it improves the feed and living conditions for the birds because we only take feathers in the best of conditions. It’s a win-win,” Ben says.
The second way they source is through the process of exotic molt. “Exotic birds molt twice a year,” Ben explains. “So your peacocks, your Lady Amhersts, your guineas — all those types of feathers are molted. Those birds are not killed, and if they’re in tight cages, the feathers get ruffled and rubbed, and they’re no good to us. So they’re free-range birds living an incredible life and fed the best foods to get those vibrant colors.”
What’s next on the horizon?
“We’ve got some belts coming out this fall that we’ve been working on for a while,” Jeff says. “Another brainchild of Ben. “We’re really excited to get those out.”
Thank you, Jeff and Ben, for sharing this incredible story with us. Shop Brackish men’s and women’s accessories at Brackish.com. All photography submitted by Brackish.
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