New England isn’t typically associated with the modern fashion industry, but some of America’s oldest and most successful heritage brands—L.L.Bean, Converse, and New Balance among them—hail from the area. You don’t go to these brands for the latest microtrends; you go to these brands when you’re looking for something that’s going to last decades, made by expert craftsmen who have been honing their skills for just as long. Although just a few years old, Manresa is already on track to be added to this list.
Named after a small island just off the coast of Norwalk, Connecticut, Manresa feels like a brand with a longer history than it actually has. Founded in 2018 by screenprinter-turned-designer Mike McLachlan, the label operates at the intersection of workwear, outdoors, and streetwear, combining the three categories into a point of view that feels unique both to the man behind the label and the geographic area that birthed him. Think of Manresa as the “love child of [Nike] ACG and L.L.Bean,” as McLachlan describes it over Zoom from his Norwalk studio.
In just a few short years, Manresa has honed in on a singular vision, a rarity for a new brand these days. Many of these labels have no tangible identity and are just looking to cash in on in-the-moment trends, or worse, completely transform each season in desperate attempts to find something that sticks.
Blue-collar resourcefulness is infused into everything Manresa releases, whether it’s the Bittner coat, a heavy-duty canvas work jacket inspired by a photo of a vintage chore coat shared by popular menswear newsletter Blackbird Spyplane, or the Oysterman sweater, a nod to the large fishing industry in Norwalk. The city is known as “Oyster Town” and has been considered by many to be the oyster capital of the world dating back to the 1800s.
There’s a lived-in authenticity to Manresa that helps its collections feel like capsules from another era, when you could trust that a jacket you bought could take a beating and come out the other side looking even better. Chalk that up to McLachlan’s obsession with making the best product possible, which usually means something that will hold up to the same kind of wear and tear he would give the clothes he wore growing up in Fairfield County, one of the richest counties in America, where dockworkers were a more common sight than college kids wearing Nantucket Reds.
“We wore Carhartt to snowboard,” says McLachlan. “And then we wore Burton when renovating our houses or fixing the roof on grandma’s shed. We’d wear all of it when we spent our summers at the skate park, which is where my love of streetwear began.”
It was McLachlan’s older brother who was the catalyst for his interest in clothing as a teenager.
“My brother was old enough to have a job so he could afford cool shit, and he would kick my ass when I would try to wear his clothes,” laughs McLachlan. “He and all his friends would be wearing brands like Triple 5 Soul, Wu Wear—even Abercrombie was still cool at the time.”
Soon after being introduced to streetwear, McLachlan’s parents bought him a pack of white T-shirts and some fabric markers, and he began making shirts that he would sell to friends at school.
“My older brother had some pieces that I loved by this one brand called Kultjah,” says McLachlan. “And I remember him telling me that these guys from south Norwalk make them. I was 12 years old, and I had never even considered where clothes came from before that moment. From that point I was off to the races.”
Eventually McLachlan learned how to screenprint and taught himself graphic design, two skills that helped him with the numerous brands he started with during high school and college, at which he was enrolled in a fashion design program before transferring into graphic design.
During his fifth year at Marist College, where he started in the fashion program before transferring to graphic design, McLachlan’s best friend passed away. Around that time, McLachlan was also dealing with some substance abuse issues, which he says killed his creativity.
“It was a dark time,” he says. “I stopped making things all together. I’ve been sober for nine years now, but it wasn’t until year two or three of being clean that I started thinking about making clothes again. I just wanted to prove to myself that I could make one good product and go through the whole process with it, just once. Design the packaging, come up with the marketing, take some nice photos, and get it online. I didn’t really want to sell it. I just wanted to prove it to myself that I could do it.”
So McLachlan launched Manresa.
The first few drops consisted mostly of basic graphic T-shirts and hoodies produced in his parents’ basement with old screenprinting equipment. His first foray into cut-in-sew came in 2019 with pieces based on sketches McLachlan had begun working on while Manresa was still just a glimmer in his eye—the very first being a colorblocked anorak with a snorkel hood. It was then when Manresa really started gaining steam, selling out each subsequent drop on the back of bangers like the Willy flannel, a gorgeous heavyweight overshirt, and the Corn Neck short, Manresa’s take on Patagonia’s iconic Baggies outdoor shorts.
But it was the Bittner coat, which launched last fall, that could be considered Manresa’s first big hit. After its initial release sold out immediately, the familiar-but-different chore coat has been rereleased several times since in different colors and has shown no signs of slowing down in popularity.
“Familiar but different” is a good way to describe Manresa’s overall approach, and it works in tandem with Mike’s obsessive approach to design. “Where I have seen success is referencing vintage garments I love but that maybe have one or two features that I don’t like and would like to change,” explains McLachlan. “Taking what I like and leaving out what I don’t—and smashing together some items on occasion—always leads to unique new garments that also feel familiar. I think that’s the sweet spot for me.”
Thanks to early successes like the Bittner and Oysterman, McLachlan was able to leave his day job as a screenprinter to focus solely on Manresa in 2021.
Last month, McLachlan hosted a popup shop in Manhattan at a 400-square-foot space at 173 Elizabeth Street in Nolita, the second in the last year for the brand at the location. Its blank white walls were livened with rustic, wood-framed artwork, and a well-worn Southwestern rug sat beneath colorful mussel and clam cages that served as a table for merch and inspirational objects. Pieces from the brand’s Spring ’23 collection like new colorways of the fan-favorite Bittner and Oysterman, and new items like the Cans long-sleeve camp collar shirt were hung on floating pipe hangers for people to see, touch, and try on. This kind of live event, equal parts showroom and networking mixer, is an important part of the experience for a brand that currently does most of its business through its website.
“Getting to talk and hang out with people makes such an impact,” says McLachlan. “Being able to put a face to the name is huge, especially with a brand like Manresa, where the brand’s identity is my identity. And being able to touch the clothes is also important. No matter how good photos on a website are, it doesn’t compare to getting your hands on a piece and seeing how it looks on you.”
Next up for Manresa is expanding the team. Until now the brand has been a one-man show, but McLachlan has reached the point where he can’t do it on his own anymore—a good problem to have for any up-and-coming brand. He’s hired his first employee, someone he says will complement his skill set and be able to fill in the gaps he—someone with no official experience in the fashion world—has.
“It does feel like I’ve been here for a while now, but I also feel like I’m just starting,” says McLachlan. “I’ve got so much to learn still, and I feel like in even six months the difference in the product will be night and day. I want to learn how to make product on par with 18 East or 3sixteen. I’m excited to get there one day.”
