Fibre2Fashion Magazine June 2018 June 2018 | Page 102

Harbor
Q&A
Jake Danehy, Founder & CEO, Fair Harbor
H
Fair Harbor’s debut women’s collection is inspired by co-founder Caroline’s time spent in the beach town of Fair
Harbor, as well as abroad in Australia. It speaks to the inclusivity of the island and there’s a style for everyone.
ow did the idea to start Fair Harbor come to you?
Why swimwear?
Fair Harbor is the name of the beach town on Fire
Island, off the coast of Long Island, where our family
spent summers. It’s essentially a glorified sandbar,
where no cars are allowed and everyone rides around
on weathered bicycles. It’s a really small community
that lives simplistically and inclusively.
Situated between the bay and the ocean, we
witnessed a lot of plastic waste wash up on the
beaches of Fair Harbor. Once I had studied extensively
about the negative effects of plastic waste in the
ocean, Caroline and I decided we needed to do
something to keep the waters clean and protect
special communities like Fair Harbor. Swimwear was
a natural fit. After learning about the technology to
convert plastic bottles into a functional fabric, making
swimwear spoke to our childhoods at the beach,
wearing boardshorts and bathing suits all day to surf,
swim, fish, lounge, and so on.
How much funds did you raise from Kickstarter?
Who are the major investors in Fair Harbor?
We first pitched Fair Harbor as part of a mock Shark
Tank competition at our school, Colgate University,
which was organised through their entrepreneurship
programme called Thought Into Action. The panel
of celebrity entrepreneurs included Jessica Alba,
Neil Blumenthal, MC Hammer, Jennifer Hyman, and
more—in front of a 2,000-member audience.
102  | FIBRE 2 FASHION JUNE 2018
Each pair of boardshorts or swim trunks makes use of approximately 11 recycled plastic
bottles. Fair Harobor projects to use more than 100,000 recycled bottles this year alone.