The FIS story - The journey of the brand and the hatred of puffy jackets!
When I first arrived in Portland, OR. I loved it. It was a great city that was close to the beach, and close to a ton of campgrounds. I always wanted to start a T-shirt company because I could never understand why people would want to wear the same shirt that 5000 other people are wearing. I was always searching for cool off brand tees. Usually at Ross (before the interweb), and because I had no money. I would find cool T's and that is the way it went for years. I finally had the time and money to set out and start my own brand. Something that was mine and that I created. To me that was the best part. To put on a hat that I designed. To put on a T-shirt that no one else would have. I wanted to come up with a name that represented the Northwest. I landed on Fall In Sight. To me it represented a lot of things. Letting the beauty of the Northwest fall in sight when you are sitting alone outside the campground. When a logger falls a tree and it falls in his sight. When a hunter drops an elk in sight! With the name set, I set out to make designs. I wanted to make designs that were different. I didn't want to be soft like so many other brands in the Northwest. I wanted it to be a little rougher with some comedy. I came up with slogans like "go outside, it's nice out", "nature feeds", "an outdoor state of mind" and other fun stuff like that. I loved being outside, I loved camping and I loved the bars. The northwest spirit to me was something hard for me to express. It came from inside me growing up in a small town along the Rogue River. It was the memories of swimming in the Rogue River. It was the feeling of jumping off bridges and trees in to the water. It was the road trip on 101 to the coast with crazy friends. It was a huge party up in the woods with a raging bonfire. It was you and your buds grabbing some beers at the local pub after a shitty week at work. That was what the Northwest was to me. My goal is to continue to create something that the real Northwest folks will appreciate. The Northwest has changed a lot since I was a kid, but I truly believe that the real spirit of the PNW is still out there. It is just getting overshadowed by a bunch of puffy jacket wearing people at the moment. I am so excited on where I can take this brand, and I hope there are a few dudes and ladies out there that understand what I am trying to represent.
Later for now
Davey Niznik
Owner & Founder FIS Apparel
Grooves will always be “In sight”.
And I just bought my 3rd puffy jacket. Suck it!
I also just rep’d FIS all over 🇨🇴 Colombia.
Miss you brother.
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