Today we’d like to introduce you to Sam Furnish.
Hi Sam, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
My career began for a large apparel company where I learned the business on the largest scale possible. A few years ago I moved to the beach to work for a chain of Surf Shops where I specialized in creating in house brands. Through this experience, I gained understanding of every part of the clothing business from designing and making the product through retail and selling directly to the consumer.
As I would go vintage shopping, or even watch old TV shows, I would often see old items that I wished I could find in my size until I realized I had all the tools to make myself. That’s when the seed was planted of starting my own clothing line, with an idea of retro or vintage inspired design. As I searched for a name, I thought back to how my grandpa had given my dad and all his siblings odd nicknames with little or no background. My dad’s nickname was ‘Bemo.’ When I shared the idea with one of my good friends he thought it was a reference to Baltimore or ‘B-more.’ Having become an adult in this city, I loved the idea of tying that in. Thus it became a brand that as our tagline says is, ‘Inspired by our fathers, Born in Baltimore.’
When my dad passed earlier this year (after giving his blessing on the name!) the time seemed right for me to dive head first into creating this brand. After a few months of behind the scenes legwork we were happy to launch our website in mid-October and will be doing pop-up shops starting during holiday season 2025!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
We are still very early, so knock on wood, but it has been relatively smooth so far. There have been minor hiccups here and there that I have been able to navigate but by and large it’s been going according to the realistic but hopeful plan I set out with.
As we are just starting to get selling info, the exciting challenge is fine tuning the product going forward with what is resonating. Having been in the industry so long I’m well aware that as best as you prepare you can’t really know what is going to work best until you get out there.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Bemo’s Clothing?
I’ve been most proud of the reaction I’ve gotten from people once they saw the finished product with our initial launch, both the marketing and the product.
When I would tell people I was starting a clothing line, in a lot of instances I could sense an inner eye roll. I’m sure they thought (as I used to!) that you needed many people and resources to do something that truly resembled an authentic brand. Once they finally saw the product, the marketing, and the website…the excitement, and in some cases surprise, was very rewarding.
So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
Obviously the easiest way is to shop the brand! But also if you don’t see something immediately that interests you keep checking. We intentionally kept the offering very small to begin with and will expand from there, and I want you to buy something that really grabs your attention.
On top of that we’ve already done a few different collaborations with local small businesses and are planning some more. This was part of the design of the brand overall and I think a very cool way to truly be part of the community. So whether you own, work, or just know a local business…we’d love to chat about doing merch together!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://bemosclothing.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/bemosclothing
