Letting go.

What is the line between control and letting go in business?

You set a vision. You set goals.

Things go right. Things go wrong.

You want to be in control, but in reality we have almost no control which means we have to let go and let it unfold.

Let it happen.

Work can become all consuming, but when you truly love what you do…you don’t really care.

But running a company—particularly in my industry—can take over your life because it takes time to learn what you can and cannot control.

Supply chain.

This is an area where most companies have almost no control because they are not physically there. They let go for the wrong reasons because they have no choice. They make a pre-production sample and hope it shows up right while also hoping the customer doesn’t notice it’s made wrong. That’s messed up in my opinion.

My belief is you have to be in your factories and mills on a regular basis so you have control over the quality of what you’re producing.

This means letting go when it comes to having trust in your supply chain. This means decades of experience and knowledge.

I’ve worked in our shops for the last two weeks and the best part is watching new people discover the brand for the first time. Particularly, young people who may be heavily into streetwear (whatever the fuck that even means now).

What’s drawing them into the brand is culture and product because they see our approach to presence through vinyl, guitars, photography and yes—motorcycles (in particular…Harley Davidson).

Our older customers are drawn in by our process and product quality. They’ve bought enough stuff over time that they recognize true quality. They’ve worn “luxury” brands and realize they’re being overcharged. I’ve been straight up told by customers that they see the value in what we make and feel a connection to how we make it.

So we have two different types of generations coming into our shops:

18 to late 20’s who want moto-heritage cool shit made right. What they’re telling me is they don’t want to see streetwear brands throwing Harleys and choppers into their branding because it’s considered “cool” now. No—they want companies who are actually in the arena. Not a marketing attempt to save some streetwear brand because what was once driven by skate is now being driven by moto.

I watch brands every day now throw in a Harley, a chopper or a vintage triumph.

Does anyone behind these brands ride? No. Young people actually notice that shit.

Music. Art. Instruments. Film. Skate. Moto. Surf.

These are areas you can’t fake your way into. I believe in being in the arena, not just chasing a trend. When I started FR. in 2014 and made our first batch, that was my intention.

For a few years we tried some areas that were presented to us because of my 30 year background in performance. We tried that and it never felt right. I knew I had to let that go.

No synthetics moving forward.

Natural materials.
Made right.
Long lasting.
That’s why I started this.

Not marketing bullshit. That’s who we are and who I am.

Moto came into my life in 2020 through a friend who wanted to ride.

I rode and it’s a massive part of my life because you have to let go.

We made a very conscious decision to be incredibly focused on why we are in business and said no to a lot of areas that did not fit what this was meant to be.

That meant letting go and trusting my instinct to have true faith in why FR. exists.

I had to let go and truly trust everything around me.

What I’ve seen in the last two weeks since we launched denim where we stuck to the roots of what FR. was always meant to be has shown me what letting go actually means.

We can’t “buy” that younger generation who want authentic product and a reason to exist.

They discover you.

We can’t buy that older generation who wants to know he can trust a company with good product and transparency. That is also earned.

Want to build something meaningful?

Have purpose.
Have vision.
Have faith.
Let go and let it unfold.
You chase. You die.
You force it. You die.
You fake it. You get called out.

Thanks for reading and to everyone who invested in a pair of our denim and analog pieces—thank you. It means everything to me.

Peace…let go and be present.

- ralph | fr.