ONES TO WATCH: THE NORMAL BRAND

The founders of The Normal Brand, Jimmy, Conrad and Lan Sansone, have always spent their lives between the city and the country. While this family of 10 children spent their daily lives in St. Louis, they escaped to the outdoors every chance they could get in order to hunt, fish, and spend nights around the fire and days at the lake. Finding ways to spend their free time was easy, but finding the right clothing was hard.

“This whole thing started because we couldn’t find a shirt that would hold up to our lifestyle,” says Jimmy. “We needed a brand that made sense to us — to our day-to-day. We wanted a normal shirt.”

So the three brothers, along with their father, set out to create a business built on everyday products made of top-notch fabrics that can stand up to the wear of the outdoors, but can also be worn to work. “Durability and versatility are of the utmost importance, and every detail matters,” adds Jimmy. “Beat it up outside and take it out to dinner that night, that’s what we want our guys to do.”

Currently, The Normal Brand can be found in retailers such as M. Dumas & Sons in Charleston, South Carolina and Two Old Hippies in Nashville, Tennessee, but Jimmy maintains that he and his brothers are focused on growing their wholesale business for 2017. “This January we will be doing our first national show,” says Jimmy. “At MRket New York, we will be introducing outerwear for the first time. We’ve also broadened our range of wovens and knits, and are working on a new indigo program that I think retailers are going to love.”