Working with artisan brands is great because you are always only a few steps away from the owners and designers who made the products. They are almost always accessible and excited to tell their stories. Talking to small and medium American manufacturers is inspiring, because they give so much just to survive, and have a committed drive that manifests as self-confidence. Just the other day, I had the pleasure of talking with Bridge and Boro’s founder Fabio Bari about his business, his passion, and what has now become his livelihood.
Fabio Bari started Bridge and Boro as a side project, looking to make his own name in a family trade that has been in practice for over 50 years. His father, Carmelo Bari, is a lifelong Italian pattern maker, who has been working in the U.S. garment industry since 1970. Skilled at the art of not only assembling but, planning the layout of custom articles of clothing, Carmelo is the thread that literally binds the company together. “As we put the clothing samples together”, says Fabio, “we decide together to take a little here or add a little there. Each piece is a very 
collaborative process.”
Fabio started his career in clothing, following closely in his father’s footsteps. Out of school, he started working for the Italian luxury fashion-house, Ermenegildo Zegna. Eventually migrating to IWC Schaffhausen to continue his career, it wasn’t until the birth of his first child that he realised he needed to follow his own path. “That is when most people settle down,” he said. “Take the job, and take the money. But for me, it felt like an opportunity; and it was now or never.”
So he quit his job and began focusing full-time on the production of his small but carefully curated line of denim products. “4 mens shirts, and 4 mens pants. 5 women’s shirts and 2 women’s pants. I wanted to make the best of each. Clothing you could dress up and dress down, mix and match, and feel good in.” The shirts and pants are stunning with intentional design and obvious thought down to the smallest details. Fabio makes a point to travel regularly to fabric trade shows, picking the best Japanese indigo fabrics, and American made Cone denim textiles.
The beauty of this company is that every piece is custom designed, fabricated, and assembled. In fact, each pair of jeans carries their tailor-made company insignia, a small jagged red line discretely placed on the back pocket. Sewers are given the liberty to make it their own, essentially signing each pair of pants as a final touch to the garment, and so every piece becomes subtly, and perfectly unique.
Bridge and Boro is the embodiment of the American dream, built by a second generation Italian-American, working in a family business, and building a trade from the ground up. Their 50-year network is like a family, and most negotiations for materials, shipping, and labour are had over small cups of espresso and lively conversation.
Their clothing is not what you might expect from an all-denim line. We often think of jean-shirts and pants as a Canadian tuxedo; a monotone amalgamation that is begging for contrast. But Bridge and Boro’s fabrics are light and textured with details in the seams as well as the textiles. Each one is designed to match and complement the other. So with just 4 mens shirts and 4 pairs of pants, there are 16 different unique outfits that are specifically designed to work together and build a wardrobe. This is part of the foundation of his ideas. Making fashion simple, understated, and accessible. It makes things simpler, in a way.
To keep costs down, Bridge and Boro does not have a retail location. They sell all their merchandise online direct to consumer and through trade fairs like American Field. The trade shows function more for brand awareness than anything else, giving customers a chance to look at the goods and learn about the brand.
When I asked about why he chooses to continue direct to consumer sales rather than selling through larger retailers, he told me “if I sell through a major retailer, I sell to them at one price, say $100. Then they take that and put it on the shelf for $200. Why should customers have to absorb those prices just so they can have a quality garment?”
Many boutique brands like Bridge and Boro have taken the route of direct to consumer sales to reduce costs and remain price competitive. But without selling to major retailers, awareness and cash flow remain significant startup hurdles. Bridge and Boro’s biggest challenges are awareness, sales volume, and costs. And the U.S. Retail manufacturing market is not a forgiving one. On average, manufacturing employees in the United States earn $28 per hour (The Conference Board, “International Comparisons of Hourly Compensation Costs in Manufacturing 2015,” April 12, 2016, The Conference Board. Compare that with countries like Taiwan, Brazil, and Mexico ($8.07, $5.53, $4.14 respectively) and it becomes clear why lower margin sectors like Retail are so difficult to compete in. Yet even with higher costs for raw materials and labor, Fabio is determined to keep prices down for his customers.
In the end, Bridge and Boro is a company getting their feet set in a highly competitive industry. But they are doing it with a sense of purpose and belief. They are trying to bring a sense of family to their customers. Every so often Carmelo Bari says to his son “have you figured it out? Have you sold all the pieces yet?” Fabio replies “Not yet” with a smile and determined optimism. And for good reason, because they truly have made something unique in a highly competitive and often commoditized market.
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