Secret Forts | The Hill Side Q&A

Q: Let's start with this, what's an average day like for you guys? You have The Hill-Side and Hickoree's under one roof (a relatively new roof at that, we'll get to that). Give us an idea of what running the two looks like on any given day? How do you split up the duties?

Sandy: An average day begins with the two of us talking about how much shit there is to get done and ends with us frustrated that we didn't get enough done. In terms of roles, Emil does about 90% of the work and then I take credit for 50% of the outcome! To be honest, splitting up duties is a really important and challenging part of running the business that I didn't expect would be as difficult as it is. Figuring out who is better at various types of tasks and actually transitioning from one of us handling certain things to the other taking over, that's been tough. We're working to get better at this.

Q: You work with your friend Hisashi in Japan. How does that work? In terms of fabrics or sales. You sell overseas. What's the reception of The Hill-Side been like in relation to here in the US?

Sandy: Our friend Hisashi is awesome, and has been an indispensable part of The Hill-Side from the beginning. He found our amazing textile mill, and manages the relationship with them. He also made our very first sale, to United Arrows, and he continues to kick ass at selling and representing the brand in Japan. In terms of international reception to the brand, we don't experience it as directly as we do with US shops, so we're extremely lucky to have really close friends looking after The Hill-Side in the UK, Europe, and Japan.

Emil: Hisashi is an old friend of mine from college and grad school, and both Sandy and I have been roommates with him at one point or another. He's been a hero to The Hill-Side from day one, and now he is a partner in the business. Another person who's helped us immensely is our dear friend Cathal McAteer, who runs the brand Folk. He has been a mentor since we first started thinking about making ties, and his advice and guidance have been invaluable. Cathal also took us on in his London showroom -- Macandi -- at a very early stage, and they have done an amazing job with our stuff in the UK and Europe. As Sandy said, it feels so good to be able to hand over our brand to such capable, trusted friends. And the fact that we get to work and collaborate with our best friends makes all of this stuff that much more fun.

Q: On that topic, The Hill-Side really seemed to take off pretty fast and furiously, and in fact our first conversation was in regards to that. It really seemed like you guys hit something at the right time. Were you at all prepared for how big the response was and how quickly it came?

Emil: To date every aspect of The Hill-Side's development has exceeded our expectations. When we first started making these ties we thought we might sell a few of them to very niche shops, mostly denim-centric places. It's not like we invented anything really new, but it does feel surprising that our stuff has been as widely accepted and appreciated as it has. The whole thing has kept us so busy that we haven't really had time to look up from what we're doing long enough to take it all in. Now the challenge is to keep up the momentum, but also to manage our growth and expansion so that the brand doesn't burn out. We need to continue to innovate and keep people excited about our products. This comes in to play in so many ways, from hunting for new fabrics, to introducing new designs, to how we photograph and style the products, to seeking out collaborators, to the shops we choose to partner with.

Sandy: It's actually a pretty common story for a brand to make a ton of sales early on and then just not deliver, or deliver two months late, or screw things up in some other way. All along my biggest concern about growing fast and furiously, as you put it, was making sure we fulfilled our obligation to all our accounts to deliver the highest quality product on time. After getting through our first season without any major missteps, we have now turned our attention to perfecting the product. I'm still focused a lot on it. Quality and consistency, balanced with innovation, will hopefully allow us to keep the wind in our sails for a while.

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