Welcome to the very first blog post from The Press at Houndstooth Clothing Co! I am excited that you are here reading this and hope this becomes a place that you return to from time to time. My name is JR Baker, I am the General Manager at Houndstooth and the son of the Founder and Owner, Michael Baker.
While I don't have any expectations for where this project will go, I thought it would be a fun exercise to start writing about some of the people, places, memories and other important moments that shape the culture and community of Fayetteville. Born and raised here, I love it here and feel very lucky to have called this place home for almost my entire life. Whether there are 2 readers or 2000, the posts you see here will be completely authentic and written entirely by myself, without any AI assistance. Let's hope I can catch any grammatical errors as I type, but part of me also hopes that one of you may catch some on your own. I'm no professional.
It's not the cotton or the color or the stitching that makes a great graphic tee, it is the design. The art, style, and feel of a shirt tells anyone who sees it something about yourself. This may be on a small subconscious level for some, but to me it couldn't be more important. Each of our products has a name, and within that name holds so many memories to millions of people, across generations who have a connection to Arkansas for any number of reasons. For example, when I see someone in one of our 8 Canoes tees from the Buffalo National collection, it goes beyond just 'oh they must like floating'. I know that they love the sound of car ties on dirt and gravel pulling up to the put in spot. Hearing the sound of the rushing current under the Low Water Bridge in Ponca. Feeling the warm sun on their skin as they weightlessly float in the canoe, looking at the towering bluffs high above them. Slight nervousness right before their stomach drops as they jump off one of the bluffs. Tasting one of the best turkey and cheese sandwiches of their life on the river bank for lunch. Feeling the piercing cold water fall from Hemmed In Hollow. Finding the perfect skipping rock and watching it dash off the top of the water. Driving back home after a perfect floating day, exhausted has never felt this good.
Moments like these are what makes this place so great and creating products and designs that highlight those moments is the entire purpose of Houndstooth Clothing Co. We stay true to who we are, to the people around us and to the place we call home. That's what Tried & True Since '92 means. I hope I can connect with you as long as I'm creating these on our shared passions for Arkansas. Stay tuned for the next post on The Press!
- JR Baker
