Morning Everyone,

For the last few years, we’ve had one constant request, I get around ten emails a month asking this:

“When are you bringing out some Barbless Flies t-shirts, hats & hoodies?”

Well … today’s the day we dip our toes into the 'apparel' marketplace!

We’re proud to introduce our barbless. apparel - a small but mighty initial drop of premium tees, made from Earth Positive garments and created (by ourselves) in-house at Barbless Flies HQ.

We're just testing the water (so to speak) with these, with lots more designs and hats/hoodies etc in the pipeline.

This isn’t generic fishing merch - there's a story behind each design (see below to find out more).

This is proper clothing ...

Built well, built ethically, but more importantly, built to last.

Why We’re Doing This (and Why Now) ...

Once we get into winter, our fly sales drop (as can be expected), so instead of quietly waiting for spring, we wanted to bring you something that keeps the barbless community alive (and warm) all year round.

You’ve been asking us for years - now we’ve finally done it - the right way.

Premium Garments Only

Each of our new T-Shirt range (both short and long sleeve) is the very best we could buy, they are made from 185gsm premium weight 100% organic cotton - it has a fine gauge and tight knit. They have seams down the sides (like all premium t-shirts), with the material cut 'on grain' - this ensures that each t-shirt keeps its shape after years of washing. We partnered with Earth Positive because they produce what we believe to be the best t-shirt blanks in the world:

• 100% GOTS-certified organic cotton
• Made in a renewable-energy-powered “Green Factory”
• Fair Wear accredited (since 2006)
• Up to 90% lower carbon footprint

Thick, soft, beautifully structured fabric - the exact opposite of those flimsy, fast-fashion blanks most fishing brands use.

Please Note: These are not those 'cheap' T-Shirts (we're looking at you: Fruit of the Loom & Gildan) which look great once they arrive, but wash them once or twice and they lose their shape, twist and are never the same again.

Printed In-House, One at a Time

We’ve invested in high-end printing equipment and we’re doing every garment ourselves, by hand, here in North Yorkshire.

This means two things:

• A slight delay in dispatch (because your shirt is made to order)
• You’ll receive something far higher quality than anything mass-produced

Crisper detail. Better colour. Longer life. Worth the wait.

The Colours & Styles

For our initial launch of designs, we kept it clean and classic:

Colours:

• Latte (soft oatmeal, inspired by river stones)
• Espresso (deep black, sharp and timeless)

Styles:

• Short-sleeve tees
• Long-sleeve tees

Designs:

• Brown Trout Tail
• barbless. Logo
• Coordinates (our North Yorkshire home)

Sizes: S through XXXL.

The Story Behind the Designs

Welcome to barbless. apparel - our first range of premium clothing

When Jack and I first sat down to work out the initial designs, we started from one mindset - produce the best quality we can - because if we were going to create clothing, it couldn’t just be “logo on chest, job done”.

Every design in this launch collection means something. Every line has a reason. Every choice ties back to our roots.

Here’s the story behind each design ...

Design 1 - The Brown Trout Tail

If you’ve been with us since the early days, you will recognise this image.

The Brown Trout Tail - bold, wild, and unmistakably alive — is based on original artwork by Ryan Keene, a hugely respected American sporting artist whose work has been at the heart of our brand since the very beginning.

When we launched Barbless Flies, Ryan’s illustrations helped set the tone for who we were: modern, artistic, connected to the water, and proud to do things differently from the “old man with a wicker creel” stereotype that dominates the fly fishing world.

That’s the electricity Ryan captured — and it’s been part of our packaging, our products, and our identity for years. When it came to designing our clothing, there was only one place to start.

Design 2 - The barbless. Logo

There’s a reason this barbless. logo works so well on apparel: it already encapsulates our entire ethos.

From day one, our approach has been simple:

• No noise
• No fuss
• No unnecessary ornamentation
• Just quality, presented cleanly

That’s why the logo is deliberately minimal. Designing any clothing always presents a temptation to embellish - but the more we experimented, the clearer it became that the strongest piece of design we had was the one we’d been using all along.

This 'wordmark' logo represents: Straight-talking, Yorkshire honesty, Modern fly-fishing culture.

When someone sees a shirt with “barbless.” across the front, they know exactly what you stand for: clean design, modern angling, and gear that respects the craft.

It’s clothing you can wear on the water, in the pub, at work, and still feel like yourself.

Design 3 - The Coordinates Edition

This design is subtle on purpose - those two sets of numbers? They’re the exact coordinates of our home waters in North Yorkshire - the place where Barbless Flies began, grew, and evolved into the brand it is today.

This design is for the anglers who enjoy the small details: the ones who know the riverbanks and bridges by memory, who can read a riffle from 40 yards, who recognise the meaning behind well-chosen numbers.

It’s also a reminder that every great fishing story has a place. Ours started at those coordinates over a decade ago, with a simple idea:

• Make better flies
• Tell better stories; and
• Help more people enjoy the sport we love

The Coordinates Edition is a wearable piece of Barbless Flies history - understated, quietly meaningful, and instantly recognised by those who’ve been part of our journey.

Our Initial Range

Please Note: These are not those 'cheap' T-Shirts (we're looking at you: Fruit of the Loom & Gildan) which look great once they arrive, but wash them once or twice and they lose their shape, twist and are never the same again.

How Your Shirt Is Actually Made (By Us)

1. We Start With Earth Positive Garments

Before we print a single pixel, your blank tee comes from Earth Positive — 100% organic cotton, Fair Wear accredited, and made using renewable energy. They arrive thick, soft, weighty, and beautifully made. No cheap blanks. No shortcuts. If we’re printing on it, it has to be good.

2. Your Order Triggers the Print

Nothing is printed ahead of time. When your order drops in, we:

• Pull your chosen colour (Latte or Espresso)
• Check your sizing
• Lay the garment out on the print platen

This is the opposite of fast fashion — slow, controlled, intentional.

3. The Pretreatment

To get crisp lines and deep colour, the fabric needs to be prepped. We apply a light, invisible pretreatment that helps the print bind perfectly to the fibres. This is why our prints don’t fade or “crack” after a few washes.

4. Positioned by Hand — One at a Time

Every single design is lined up manually. No rushed conveyor belts. No “close enough” positioning. We align each shirt by eye and by feel — the only way to guarantee consistent placement across every size.

5. High-Resolution DTG Printing

This is where the magic happens. We’ve invested in professional-grade equipment, the kind used by premium streetwear brands.

These machines give you:

• Ultra-sharp detail
• Deep, rich blacks
• Smooth gradients; and
• Long-lasting print durability

Your trout tail illustration, coordinates, or wordmark comes out clean, bright and razor-sharp.

6. The Cure

After printing, your garment goes through a controlled heat cure. This locks the ink into the fibres, softens the finish, and ensures it survives the wash, the riverbank, the pub, and everything in between.

7. The Quality Check

Before anything gets folded:

• We check the print alignment
• We check the colour density
• We check the fabric for defects
• We check the cure; and if it’s not perfect
• We print it again

This is why we’re doing everything in-house - because you simply can’t guarantee this level of quality when someone else prints it for you.

8. Packed With Care (No Plastic)

Once it passes inspection, your tee is folded neatly and packed into eco-friendly packaging.

Nothing unnecessary, nothing wasteful, just a premium garment, ready for its new home.

A Quick Note on Dispatch Times:

Because everything is printed to order, there may be a slight delay before dispatch - especially during the first few weeks of launch.

But trust us, when you open the parcel, you’ll see (and feel) why it was worth the wait.

 

Tight lines.

P.S. Both Jack and I have done one design each - there's a bet riding on which of our designs is the most popular. We decided to let you guys decide which is best!