Fishe Archive • Fish Alaska Magazine • 2018
Five Early Fishe Designs That Earned Fish Alaska Recognition
In 2018, Fish Alaska Magazine recognized five FisheWear designs across its Editors’ Choice and New Gear coverage. The original announcement was short, but the moment represented something larger: women-first fishing apparel and gear were earning serious attention for both function and originality.
This researched archive story preserves the products and language recorded in Fishe’s original 2018 announcement, adds context from Fish Alaska’s published gear-testing approach, and explains why the recognition still belongs in the Fishe story.
Quick Takeaways
- Two Fishe products received 2018 Editors’ Choice recognition in the layering category.
- Three additional Fishe products appeared in New Gear for 2018 coverage.
- The five designs included apparel, a technical fishing sling, and a dry bag backpack.
- Several exact 2018 styles are now archive pieces, so this is a history story rather than a current shopping guide.
- The recognition anticipated the women-first design philosophy Fishe continues to build around today.
In This Story
Why You Should Trust Us
This story begins with Fishe’s original April 2018 announcement, which names all five recognized products and preserves short excerpts from the accompanying gear coverage.
We also reviewed Fish Alaska Magazine’s published gear and Editors’ Choice pages to understand how the publication describes its hands-on testing. We have not treated discontinued products as current inventory or added unverified specifications to the original designs.
The Original Announcement
What Fish Alaska Recognized in 2018
The 2018 Fishe post recorded two Editors’ Choice selections in the layering category and three additional products highlighted in New Gear for 2018.
Fish Alaska describes its Editors’ Choice program as the result of hands-on product testing across categories that include apparel, packs, luggage, tackle, footwear, and boats.
That context matters. The recognition was not simply about colorful artwork. It placed Fishe products inside the practical systems anglers use to stay warm, carry tackle, protect gear, and adapt to changing conditions.
Two Editors’ Choice Layering Selections
The original post identifies two Fishe designs in the 2018 layering category: a merino wool piece and the Hoodie Dress.
Fishe Merino Wool
Merino represented the technical side of the early Fishe wardrobe. Wool is valued in cold-weather layering because it can provide warmth and remain useful in damp conditions.
The archived announcement does not specify the exact garment or construction details, so this retrospective does not add them.
The Hoodie Dress
The Hoodie Dress showed another side of the brand: comfortable layering that could move between outdoor use, travel, and everyday life without looking like generic technical clothing.
Its recognition suggested that adaptable outdoor apparel did not have to abandon personality.
The pairing captured an early Fishe idea: technical usefulness and expressive design could live in the same outdoor wardrobe.
Three More Fishe Designs in New Gear for 2018
The same gear coverage highlighted three additional products. Together, they expanded the story from clothing into storage, mobility, and women’s fly-fishing gear.
Allagash Softshell Skirt
The original feature described the Allagash as an easy choice “from river fun to getting things done.” The idea was versatility: outdoor-minded material in a silhouette rarely centered in fishing apparel at the time.
Orvis + Fishe Sling Pack
Fish Alaska noted the slightly larger size and room for more fly boxes. The pack also marked an important early chapter in the Fishe x Orvis collaboration, bringing Groovy Grayling artwork to established fishing-pack construction.
Groovy Grayling Dry Bag Backpack
The original announcement summarized the backpack in three words: “Built to last.” It carried one of Fishe’s defining early patterns into practical, water-ready storage.
Learn how that artwork grew through the story behind Groovy Grayling.
These are archive designs. Some exact 2018 styles are no longer in the current catalog, and availability should not be inferred from their appearance in this retrospective.
Why This Recognition Mattered
Fishe was still a young Alaska-born brand in 2018. It was proving that women’s fishing apparel did not need to be an afterthought, a smaller version of men’s gear, or a technical product stripped of identity.
The five recognized designs addressed different parts of an angler’s day: warmth, adaptable clothing, carrying tackle, protecting gear, and moving comfortably between water and town.
The range is what made the moment important. The coverage did not isolate Fishe as one novelty product. It showed an emerging product system built around the real lives of women who fish.
The timing was significant, too. The Groovy Grayling sling pack was bringing the Orvis partnership into public view while Alaska and national media were beginning to pay closer attention to Linda Leary’s belief that technical performance and expressive fish art belonged together.
How the 2018 Moment Connects to Fishe Today
The exact products change, but the design questions remain familiar. Will a layer move comfortably and work in real weather?
Can a pack carry what an angler needs? Can technical gear help her feel more like herself rather than less?
That continuity is visible in the ongoing Fishe x Orvis partnership, the lasting presence of Groovy Grayling, and Fishe’s later recognition for women’s technical apparel.
In 2026, the Brookie 1/4 Zip Thermal won Best Women’s Technical Apparel in the ICAST New Product Showcase. The scale of that honor was different, but the through-line was familiar: performance, women-first thinking, and a point of view that could not be mistaken for anyone else’s.
A Small Announcement With a Bigger Story
The original 2018 post celebrated five products in only a few paragraphs. What those products represented was larger: layering, carrying, protecting, adapting, and helping women feel at home in fishing culture.
The promise still feels current: build fishing gear that works for women and feels unmistakably their own.
Frequently Asked Questions
What did Fish Alaska Magazine recognize FisheWear for in 2018?
Fishe’s original announcement recorded two Editors’ Choice selections in the layering category and three additional products in New Gear for 2018.
Which Fishe products received Editors’ Choice recognition?
The original post identifies Fishe merino wool and the Hoodie Dress as the two layering-category selections.
Which products appeared in New Gear for 2018?
The Allagash Softshell Skirt, Orvis + Fishe Sling Pack, and Groovy Grayling Dry Bag Backpack appeared in the New Gear coverage.
Can I still buy the exact 2018 products?
Some are archive products and may no longer be available. This article does not present the original five designs as current inventory.
Did Fishe receive another major fishing-industry award?
Yes. In 2026, the Brookie 1/4 Zip Thermal won Best Women’s Technical Apparel in the ICAST New Product Showcase.
Sources
Related Reading
FisheWear Wins at ICAST 2026
See how a women-first technical layer earned one of fishing’s major new-product honors.
The Fishe x Orvis Story
Follow the collaboration from the first Groovy Grayling sling pack to today’s fishing gear.
The Story Behind Groovy Grayling
Discover how one Alaska fish inspired a print that kept moving through Fishe history.
