The tradition of New Yorkers escaping the city to fish the streams and rivers of the surrounding countryside goes back decades, and it's alive and well following a spike in fly fishing’s popularity in recent years. To commemorate that tradition, as well as the timeless values of friendship and angling, the Empire State streetwear label Only NY recently teamed up with the Hawley, Pennsylvania fly shop Housefly Fishing to collaborate on a limited line of fishy apparel, accessories, and gear that'll feel at home on stream banks, downtown, or in an apartment that's too small and too expensive.
Wearable items within the Only NY x Housefly collab include an embroidered hoodie ($120), a t-shirt ($48), and two styles of socks–one in a bug motif ($20) and the other a housefly ($20), naturally.
The colorful illustrations that grace the housefly t-shirt and bug glasses ($48) are the handiwork of Tim Miller and Dan Santoro, two of Housefly’s three founders, and Santoro’s tattoo shop American House is just down the block from Housefly in Hawley, PA. Just a few local businesses separate the two brick and mortars—an antique shop, a music store, and a homely dive bar—in a sort of physical manifestation of how fly fishing, often thought of as a niche activity, can find touchpoints far from streams, as in the new Only NY collection. (But if you are here for the fish, Housefly’s third founder, Sean Witman, crafts some excellent flies that you can order directly from him.)
One of our favorite pieces from the collab is genius in its simplicity and LNT ethos–a packable drawstring mesh bag ($32) intended to assist environmentally conscious anglers in collecting waste as they traverse their home waters. When it's not full of plastic soda bottles or empty packs of smokes, the bag packs tightly and clips just about anywhere with an included carabiner.
You can shop the Only NY x Housefly collection online from either brand site, as well as at their retail locations in New York and Pennsylvania. Tight lines folks!
Published 03-28-2023
