When Alex Faherty and his brother, Mike, were kids, they spent much of their free time surfing at the Jersey Shore. Their idyllic childhood in Spring Lake and Manasquan, highlighted by all-day surf sessions and bonfires on the beach, inspired the clothes that they wore—loose, comfortable attire that was also stylish—very much like the Faherty clothing brand that they would eventually launch years later.
But while they are identical twins, their other interests were quite different. Alex was into sports and saving money, while Mike was into clothes. Mike even began to advise his brother on what to wear to school every day.
In high school, Mike wrote his college essay about starting a clothing line and went on to major in fashion design at Washington University in St. Louis before spending years in New York’s fashion industry. Alex attended Yale University, where he played football and majored in political science.
By their twenties, the brothers had decided they wanted to start a clothing brand together. But first, they needed experience. Alex spent years working in investment banking and private equity, while Mike designed clothing for Ralph Lauren and traveled the world, building relationships with factories.
When they turned 30, the pair knew the time was right to launch their first collection. “Mike called me while he was on a road trip and said, ‘I’m ready to start the brand,’” remembers Alex. That was in 2012.
The following year, Faherty was born. The brand first launched online and, in 2016, they opened their first flagship store in Malibu, California. They also launched a catalog.
Alex Faherty Photo: Courtesy of Matthew Catalano
Now, a decade-plus later, the brothers’ drive and savvy have made Faherty one of the fastest growing clothing companies in the country. This is especially notable at a time when many other brands are shrinking or shutting down. The company has 79 stores nationwide, including five in New Jersey, and five more slated to open in the United States this year. The brand can also be found in stores such as Nordstrom and Bloomingdale’s. With 500 employees and an ever-growing business, Faherty is a Garden State success story.
The business is a family affair. The pair started the company with Alex’s wife, Kerry Docherty, a lawyer with a background in human rights and mindfulness, who leads their impact and Native initiatives (she is also the chief impact officer). Their mother, Ninie Norris, an interior decorator, is their store designer.
While Alex and Mike, now 42, both moved to Brooklyn after starting their business, the pull of the Jersey Shore was strong enough for Alex that he and Kerry decided to move their family, including their two young children, back to Spring Lake last year. As well as running the business, Alex coaches his kids’ sports teams, and surfs with his children whenever he gets a chance.
In 2024, the twins opened Sun and Waves, their first restaurant and café, in Spring Lake. With its surfboards and laid-back vibes (their mother designed the café, too), it fits right in with the unique Faherty aesthetic. And a Faherty clothing shop is just down the street.
The story of the company’s origin goes back to the twins’ childhood. “Since my brother, Mike, was a little kid, he always loved clothes. He loved shopping for clothes, and he loved telling me what to wear,” remembers Alex, who is CEO of the company. “I mean, every single morning, he was making sure I had the right outfit on. He just had this incredible style since we were little kids.”
Photo: Courtesy of Faherty
They bought most of their clothes at surf shops in Spring Lake. But when they were 13, their parents moved the family to New York City.
All of a sudden, these Jersey Shore kids found themselves living in the big city—and there weren’t any surf stores around where they could shop. Mike would wander through department stores, checking out the designer clothing and beautiful materials. He appreciated the quality of the products, although he knew they weren’t his style. But those early years in New York City fueled his passion for high-quality fabrics, which he still applies to the clothes he designs today for Faherty.
“We grew up in Spring Lake for the first half of our young lives, so I definitely had the identity of an outdoorsy, surfer kid,” says Mike, the creative director for the company. “But seeing the clothes at places like Bloomingdale’s, and all the contemporary clothing in New York—I had never really experienced that before. And I realized there were clothes out there that felt way better than my clothes. They didn’t necessarily look like the clothes I wanted to wear, though.”
At heart, they were both surfer kids from the Jersey Shore.
“Our style is a combination of the life we grew up with in Spring Lake and the beautiful, soft fabrics he discovered,” says Alex.
Faherty sells clothing for men, women and children, including swimwear, using fabrics that are soft and comfortable. Many of the designs are a nod to the surfing culture of the brothers’ youth.
Fortunately, while living in New York they were able to continue spending their summers and weekends in Spring Lake, since their parents kept their house there.
From a young age, the pair always knew that one day, they were going to start their own company.
“Mike was always going to be the designer, and I was going to be the business brother since we were really little kids. I was always the one that saved money; I was very fiscally responsible. I loved making money and always had little jobs. I was kind of like the big brother, even though we’re twins,” says Alex.
It’s the twin power that makes their clothing brand so successful, says Jim Scully, a Faherty board member who has been a mentor to Alex over the years and is an investor in the company. He was formerly chief operating officer at J. Crew and interim chief executive officer at J. Jill.
“They are both smart, grounded and very genuine. I was taken by how much the brand reflected their lifestyle and how sincere and real that was. Some companies don’t have that level of genuineness, and I thought that was impressive,” he says.
Scully says there are few current retail companies that have achieved the scale of success that Faherty has, with the same level of profitability.
“What’s hard for people to wrap their head around is that in the world of retail, you have the commercial side of the business and the creative side, and there’s typically a lot of tension there,” he says. “What creates the magic for the Faherty brand is that they’re twins. And with the symbiotic relationship they have—with Alex’s wife, Kerry, being the third wheel—that’s what really differentiates them and is probably one of the biggest reasons they were able to grow so quickly.”
Much of the inspiration for the brand comes from the brothers’ childhood memories of summers at the Jersey Shore, with barbecues and big family gatherings in the backyard of the Fahertys’ rambling old Spring Lake Victorian house. They grew up with a blended family (their mother remarried), comprising three girls and four boys.
“I have these visceral memories of summer in Spring Lake. We’d have these barbecues with 40 people on Saturdays at our house, and I just remember the happiness and the joy,” remembers Mike.
In fact, when he’s designing for their clothing line, he sometimes visualizes what people were wearing at certain moments in his formative years. “I’ll think, What were we wearing at that barbecue? What were we wearing at the beach? And when it’s Monday, and you’re getting on the ferry from Rumson to get to work in the city, and you have your Faherty shirt on, you might think—this isn’t so bad, because this shirt reminds me of the weekend.”
“We use the saying, capturing life’s great moments, with the brand, and I think summer at the Jersey Shore is so essential to that,” he says.
What does the future hold for the business? “We named it Faherty because I want to do this forever as a family name brand,” says Mike. “I hope it will be something that we can pass down to the next generation. I just want to create something that I love for as long as I can.”
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