It's Fly to Fish

Skipping over a lot of the past and focusing further downstream it’s not super clear why fly fishing is informing fashion aesthetics and creating a new sub-culture within an already niche pursuit. We take a closer look at the emerging scene to understand what is going on.

A classic pattern

Fly fishing is an art form that takes years to practice and decades to master. It’s a sport that draws you close to nature, you have to be in it and work with it to succeed. There’s a traditional aesthetic to the fly fishers set-up; Barbour jackets, tweed hat, waders and a utility vest – a look still celebrated by the infamous fly fisherman and author David Coggins (@davidrcoggins) whose book, The Optimist, is a fly fishing book written for everyone as well as the committed. 

Brands like Patagonia have influenced the modern fly fishers outfits, but more recently the next generation is wading through tradition and re-shaping the course. A good example is the fly fishers utility jacket which features in a recent collab between fashion brand Kith (@kith) and outdoor brand Columbia (@columbia1938), just one example where this silhouette is being re-imagined in collections across the globe. 

Where tradition meets tradition

The tradition of fly fishing began in Japan and pair that with the now familiar tradition of Japanese streetwear culture and you have a lineup of brands straight from Japan who are at the forefront of modern fly fishing style.

Tenkara Session

'Tenkara' itself is a simple form of fly fishing where there’s no reel, just a rod and piece of line and attached to it is a dry fly. Tenkara Session is a sub brand of South2west8.com (@South2west8), they create wild patterned utility vets, hats and jackets with psychedelic vibe. The functional fit is hidden behind the trippy camouflage, but on closer look, everything is considered and necessary for the angler.

Snowpeak

A Japanese outdoor brand who’ve positioned themselves in the outdoor market across the US and UK with ease, growing rapidly across the globe. They’ve collaborated on several fly fishing inspired capsules that take Japanese street style and a eye for technical apparel and blend it together in a way few can pull off. (snowpeak.com | @snowpeak_official)

Drawing a line between creativity and fly fishing

The room for creativity within such a traditional activity could easily be mistaken for a trend, but to create something for the sport relies on a true understanding and authentic experience of fly fishing to be able to present it back to a wider culture in a way that resonates and inspires others to practice the art of fly fishing. 

Artist Geoff McFetrdige’s (@mcfetridge) relationship with fly fishing stems back to his early illustrations for Patagonia (the infamous fly fish logo) all the way to more recent projects with Scandinavian brand Norse Projects | @Norseprojects where he collaborated on several collections of clothing that straddles the urban and outdoor needs for the modern utilitarian wardrobe. The campaign clearly sets out Geoff’s commitment to fly fishing through film and photography and small expressions throughout the collection. 

We spoke to Geoff and asked him for his perspective on bringing creativity to the sport of fly fishing, not just drawing but the room within the sport for a creative approach…

'Fly fishing is a seriously multi dimensional pastime. Maybe it is a bit like surfing where you can do it a little bit and it is rewarding, or also live a life where it is the centre of everything. I didn't grow up fishing, and I don't spend a ton of time on the water. But fishing is truly important to me. I find that activities I take on stick with me when, as I learn them (I love learning) they reveal what behaviours they reinforce.'

"Fly fishing is an art disguised as a science." – Geoff McFetridge

'I have only been fishing for about ten years. My knowledge is won through learning from friends, guides and experiences. What I know is always balanced with looking critically at the current conditions, and instinct. I just don't know enough. I have to improvise. In the end I use what I know, but mostly I rely on critical thinking and a type of contraryness… and this Fly fishing reinforces. Fly fishing reinforces fishing the non-fishy looking spots. To use a tiny dry when nymphs are working. It wants you to use a raw red hook under a bobber when everyone is fishing hoppers. Fly fishing is an art disguised as a science.'

So how does he see the culture shifting as someone who has a clear respect for the art of the sport but a 'novice' in his own words, we spoke further on this…

'Fly fishing is interesting because it has so much history, this compared to other activities I do, like skateboarding. As a sport, in the west, it feels rooted in land ownership, wealth, the Prince of Wales and Dick Cheney sharing a drift boat. I have to say the aristocrats did a good job of nurturing the culture. They gave it style, and set some rules that are mostly useful. I love purity but the fly-fishing I want to do is not dependent on tradition. The dirtbag evolution in the 80s and 90s is what I benefit from, they evolved the sport into a vibrant and pretty open ended culture. There were rules to break, and things to keep. Now the culture is opening up even more. My first rod was a Tenkara, I don't know if I would have been able to get into fly fishing without this simple entry point, that was not readily available up until this time.'

‍

Leading a new tradition

England has a long standing history and heritage with fly fishing in a traditional setting, so when UK based outdoor apparel brand Fera (feragb.com | @feragb) recently launched their ‘Trout Bum’ capsule collection, it was about creating a collection that stands up to the streets as well as the stream.

"Fly fishing is a sport entwined in the history and culture of the British outdoors, although we feel sport is the wrong word for it. It is so much more than that. It's an art, an adventure, and a moment to remove yourself from the hectic buzz of our modern world and immerse yourself in a flowing vein of nature." – Sidney Hiscox, Co-Founder, Fera

America is home to the largest of fly fishing communities, native brands like @gramicci and Topo Designs (@topodesigns) have leaned into the ‘scene’ to create products inspired by and specifically for fly fishing, such as packs from Topo.

Fish graphics play a role in Gramicci’s ‘Gone fishing’ collection from SS22 along side their utility jacket.

It’s fly to fish

The wider acceptance of outdoor sports is opening up outdoor activities that once felt guarded. If you ask any fly fisher what the point of fly fishing is they will tell you ‘it’s not about catching fish, it’s about being out on the river’. With that, fly fishing has the appeal of just about any activity that supports and promotes a deeper connection to nature and spending time outside.

Naturally, the boundaries are there to be explored and pushed by a generation that are always in pursuit of creativity and progress, creating a vibe and position that will likely get caught in the net of 'just another trend', however sometimes trends are valuable in the wider progress of a culture.

It does take some understanding of fly fishing to create products that authentically work, while having the creative mindset to elevate the aesthetics of this much guarded culture. The brands and projects we've looked at float between the two, some further into the realms of utilitarian fashion than actual functional kit, but then, that should be expected. Where the magic sits in this niche space is in the products that express a true understanding and experience of the sport and embrace creativity to re-define the style.

‍