How Marine Layer Became A Go-To Lifestyle Brand

Mike Natenshon, Adam Lynch, and Jenna discuss the evolution of Marine Layer from Mike trying to recreate the comfort of his favorite college t-shirt to the company’s expansion into 33 profitable stores. Mike and Adam reflect on memories from the early days, including purchasing their 1969 VW van as their delivery truck, hand-delivering orders to Levi’s, and improvising when they received an order of sweatshirts without any neck holes. We then chat about their experiential retail philosophy, Marine Layer’s dual store and AirBnB locations in Chicago and New Orleans (opening in February), and the future of fashion and hospitality merging. Mike and Adam also take us behind the scenes at their team meetings to share some of Marine Layer’s key values, such as questioning assumptions to achieve your best possible outcome, the importance of being empathetic when sharing feedback, and balancing optimizing for the future while focusing on the present.