Meet Steve Weil of Rockmount in LoDo

Today we’d like to introduce you to Steve Weil.

The West is not a place, it’s a state of mind. — Papa Jack

The Rockmount Story
“Papa Jack” Weil, founded ROCKMOUNT RANCH WEAR Mfg. CO. in 1946. He was the oldest CEO in the world, working daily until age 107. He is to Western wear what Henry Ford is to the car. Papa Jack made the first shirts with snaps and is key to popularizing western fashion. He made the first bolo ties, among other things.

I’ve always believed we were never selling just the cowboy—we sell the romance of the West. That’s so much more… — Papa Jack

His son, Jack B. joined the firm in 1954, headed design and merchandising for fifty years. Jack B. was one of the first to introduce western fashion east of the Mississippi. Steve, third generation and now president, joined the company in 1981, grew up in the business. Steve expanded the international business and later took over design. He introduced relaxed fit shirts, now an industry standard. Three generations of the Weil family represent the evolution of the Western business from regional, to national to international.

Steve literally wrote the book on Western Wear. His book WESTERN SHIRTS: A CLASSIC AMERICAN FASHION chronicles the story of the people who popularized the fashion and surveys seventy years of design.

My role at RRW has been to redefine a legacy business and give it a future. It was taking the good things that my grandfather and father made as the foundation and rebuild them relevant to new generations. This is why only 30% of family businesses survive to the 2nd generation, and 7% to the 3rd… The secret is distilling the core strengths and making them relevant to another age.

What is cool about this business is that it fuses creativity and management. It’s rare for creatives to be businesslike and likewise rare for business people to be creative…. I began having a sense of my grandfather’s design genius back in high school when I absconded with really cool shirts which had been in his closet 30 years. Later this inspired me to launch s vintage collection. For me, having survived the massive disruption of retail, acquired and restored our historic headquarters is like winning a McArthur Award. At RRW we like to push the boundaries of shirt design. A good shirt design pushes boundaries.

Papa Jack didn’t just create a new kind of shirt—he started a whole new fashion. He gave those who identify with the American Western Way of Life a style tailored specifically for them. Rockmount stands out from other fashion companies because we’ve maintained a consistency of design for over sixty-five years. We go our own direction and don’t look to other brands for our inspiration, says Steve Weil.

Today, ROCKMOUNT is a four generation manufacturer of apparel, hats and accessories. Rockmount brand is sold by 800 retailers world-wide from saddle shops in New Mexico to boutiques from New York to Tokyo.

Museums including the Smithsonian & the Autry have Rockmount in their collections. The signature design with “Sawtooth” pockets & “Diamond” snaps is considered the longest continuously made shirt in the USA. Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, David Bowie, Robert Redford are customers. Elvis and Ronald Reagan were…

Rockmount’s many movie credits include: the famous shirts in “Brokeback Mountain” (sold at auction for $101,000), Clark Gable in the “Misfits” with Marilyn Monroe, John Sayles movie “Silver City,” Aidan Quinn in “Practical Magic,” Robert Redford in “The Horse Whisperer,” Nicholas Cage in “Red Rock West,” Meg Ryan & Dennis Quaid in “Flesh & Bone,” Woody Harelson in “The Cowboy Way.”

Features on Rockmount appeared on NPR, CNN, CBS Evening News, Fox, The Economist, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Esquire, Vogue, and Gentleman’s Quarterly. See articles are at rockmount.com. The Rockmount Building is a historic landmark building in lower downtown Denver (LoDo). Rockmount is the last remaining early business in the neighborhood. Its flagship store features a museum of vintage Rockmount shirts.

Few companies span the birth of Western fashion to the internet age. See our catalog and history at rockmount.com.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Business is all about challenges. See the earlier comments of how we have survived disruption of the entire retail landscape. We have had many historical ups and downs over the last 73 years. We have completely reinvented our business to remain relevant. I can comment further if needed.

So, what’s next? Any big plans?
We keep doing what we do. We tweak it along the way and make major changes when needed but the most important thing is to keep your eye on the ball.

Contact Info:

• Website: rockmount.com
• Phone: 303 629 7777
• Email: steve@rockmount.com for me, orders@rockmount.com for info

Image Credit:
courtesy of Rockmount

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