Mike Lamagna, founder of Long Wharf Supply Co., is helping to save the oceans one sweater at a time.
This is a story about saving the ocean that also happens to be about clothes. Mike Lamagna, the founder of lifestyle brand Long Wharf Supply Co. (longwharfsupply.com), grew up with sea water in his veins. From when he was just days old, he spent time on his family’s boat traveling from one historic New England seaport to the next. He fell in love with the landscape steeped in history, and as an adult, wondered how he could best honor it.
Surprisingly, the answer came in the form of oysters and sweaters. “Every healthy adult oyster can filter up to 50 gallons of seawater a day. They are so beneficial for inshore marine habitats which can serve as a foundation for healthier waterways overall. I wanted to build a platform that would reseed wild oyster reefs to improve water quality. I never thought I would be in consumer retail. In 2019, I met with manufacturers who told me about a process that could pull recycled oysters shells and water bottles out of the waste stream and turn them into a recycled filament that could blend with other materials to achieve different properties of a garment,” says Lamagna.
The synergy of using recycled oysters shells to help in the production of new oyster beds was too perfect and Lamagna knew exactly what product he could create—the 1970s iconic, classic fisherman’s sweater, exactly like the one hanging in his dad’s closet. “The big idea was to take the innovative textiles and make classic pieces at an accessible price point and then leverage that platform to fund impact programs,” he says. Soon, the SeaWell collection was born and Long Wharf Supply Co. launched.
Their Kickstarter campaign caught the eye of producers on Shark Tank and the brand had its moment on TV, which still causes the occasional stranger to approach Lamagna. But what has kept the brand growing, (they sell kids clothes, bags, accessories, small goods and plans to expand into outerwear and a full scale spring/summer collection) is their dedication to authenticity and giving back. Long Wharf Supply Co. not only helps to reseed wild oyster reefs, but with their partners at the Massachusetts Oyster Project, they’ve funded oyster shell recycling programs on Cape Cod and recently they helped expand the program into Boston as well.
This summer, the brand is going to meet their customers where they are with a popup in Nantucket within the Faraway Hotel which will run through the fall and close after the island’s popular holiday stroll. It’s a chance to shop, but also to be part of the story. Rumor has it that there will also be free oysters.
Photography by: EMILY ELISABETH PHOTOGRAPHY
