Today we speak to John O’Donnell, the founder of the West Coast lifestyle brand johnnie-O:
I’m originally from the Midwest: born in St. Louis and raised in the north suburbs of Chicago. I come from a big family – six brothers and sisters, and 23 nieces and nephews. We grew up sharing clothes, arm wrestling for the last slice of pizza, and taking family road trips. Today, we are spread across the country and each has our own interests and passions, but some things remain the same; we love big family dinners, we love spending time at our cottage on Lake Michigan, and we are always there for each other if the need arises.
Our lifestyle apparel brand, johnnie-O, merges a more casual West Coast style with the classic looks of the East Coast. We want to offer people an alternative to the classic apparel brands that we have all known and loved for many years. West Coast Prep is who we are and we constantly strive to offer points of differentiation with our product. Perhaps the greatest example of this is the introduction of our infamous Tweener Button; a strategically placed button that is positioned between the second and third buttons on all of our woven shirts for men. It is a major game changer and will forever bring an end to your “second button dilemma”.
johnnie-O really started as just a hobby that I hoped could turn into something bigger. There was no design school or an apparel background to speak of, just an idea. Here we are nine years later from what started as a “cut and paste” operation in an attempt to provide shirts for a buddy’s golf trip to what we are today; a thriving lifestyle apparel brand.
johnnie-O is sold at 400 stores across the country including club pro-shops, specialty shops, resorts, and beach clubs, as well as online and in our Santa Monica flagship store.
As for John’s personal style:
Jeans: Levi’s without a doubt.
Shirts: johnnie-O………that’s a no-brainer.
Pants: Is it fair to say the new johnnie-O pants? Awesome blend where jeans meet khakis.
Suits: I’m a traditionalist when it comes to suits, so I’d have to say a classic slim fit blue suit from Brooks Brothers.
Shoes: Chuck Taylors for casual and lately, I’ve been wearing black loafers from Allen Edmonds and J.Crew.
Accessories: I’m not a big accessory guy but a nice classic Timex is my cup of tea.
Outerwear : Tough to beat Patagonia.
Favorite Cologne: Speed Stick deodorant is my idea of cologne.
Your favorite App: I’d say crab cocktail (ha ha).
Favorite piece of technology: GPS.
Next tech purchase: Look’s like I’ve been persuaded to make the move to an iPhone 6. Yikes!
