Press Archive · Alaska Small Business · May 2017
When Alaska Business Put FisheWear in the Small-Business Spotlight
In May 2017, Alaska Business Monthly featured FisheWear as an Alaska-grown company finding room in a market that had overlooked women for too long.
The print story, written by Tasha Anderson, carried the headline Angling for a Niche Market Expansion. It captured FisheWear at an early turning point: young enough for every new product to feel like a leap, but established enough for Alaska’s business community to recognize that the idea had real momentum.
In This Story
The Original Alaska Business Feature
The article appeared in the magazine’s Small Business section and introduced readers to a company built around a clear market gap. Women were already fishing throughout Alaska, yet much of the clothing available to them was uncomfortable, poorly fitted, visually limited, or simply adapted from men’s gear.
FisheWear’s answer was not to make women fit the existing category. It was to rethink what women’s fishing apparel could look and feel like from the beginning.
What the Feature Captured
An Alaska-Born Business
The story centered FisheWear as a local company shaped by Alaska’s fishing culture, weather, working waterfronts, and women who were already spending time outside.
A Women-First Product Idea
Founder Linda Leary was building functional apparel and accessories around women’s bodies, needs, and personalities rather than accepting the narrow choices already available.
Early Momentum
The feature arrived while FisheWear was expanding its product range, collaborating with artists, and learning how a young brand could move from a promising idea into a lasting business.
The Idea Behind the Coverage
A Different Vision for Women’s Fishing Gear
The print article described belts, dry bags, leggings, hats, hoodies, robes, and totes carrying original fish-inspired designs. The assortment was still developing, but the point of view was already unmistakable.
Linda wanted to change the assumption that serious fishing gear had to disappear into olive, brown, black, or tan. Function and color were never competing ideas. Women could wear capable gear that felt comfortable, expressive, and recognizably their own.
That belief became more important than any single early product. It gave FisheWear a reason to exist beyond novelty and helped the brand speak directly to women who had rarely seen themselves reflected in fishing apparel.
One Part of the Early Story
The Kickstarter Was Proof of Demand
The 2017 feature devoted part of its story to FisheWear’s first Kickstarter campaign. The campaign supported an early merino wool collection and helped introduce the Troutrageous Rainbow design.
Historical FisheWear records show that 298 backers helped raise more than $66,000 against a $50,000 goal. That support mattered financially, but its larger meaning was validation: women and their allies believed this overlooked category deserved investment.
The Kickstarter belongs in the story, but it is not the whole story. Alaska Business was documenting a founder, a product vision, an emerging community, and a company beginning to understand how far the idea might travel.
Why This Press Feature Still Matters
Press coverage can look small after years of growth. At the time, however, a feature in Alaska’s statewide business magazine placed FisheWear inside a larger conversation about entrepreneurship, manufacturing, market need, and the value of building from Alaska.
The article treated women’s fishing apparel as a real business opportunity. That recognition mattered in an industry where female anglers were often visible on the water but missing from product development, store assortments, and marketing.
The feature captured a moment when FisheWear was no longer only an idea Linda was explaining. It was becoming a company other people could see, support, and take seriously.
It also preserved the energy of the early years: artist collaborations, hands-on product development, direct conversations with customers, and the sense that every new introduction could help widen the picture of who belonged in fishing.
The Story Kept Moving
Six years after the print feature, Alaska Business covered FisheWear again when the company opened a second Anchorage storefront in 2023.
That follow-up described a brand still grounded in the original mission: helping more women get onto the water and feel comfortable and confident while doing it. The products and reach had expanded, but the reason behind the work remained recognizable.
The distance between those two stories makes the 2017 spread especially meaningful. It shows FisheWear before later collaborations, a broader product catalog, and increased visibility—at a stage when the company was still proving its market.
About This Press Archive
This article was rebuilt from FisheWear’s original May 2017 materials: the blog post, photographed print spread, historical Kickstarter record, and Alaska Business’s current magazine archive and later coverage.
The original online article URL is no longer active. Rather than reproduce the magazine story, this page preserves its key historical context and explains why the feature remains an important FisheWear milestone.
Readers can browse the publication’s Alaska Business magazine archive, which includes access to the May 2017 issue.
Frequently Asked Questions
When was FisheWear featured in Alaska Business Monthly?
FisheWear appeared in the May 2017 issue of Alaska Business Monthly. FisheWear published its original announcement about the feature on May 18, 2017.
What was the Alaska Business feature called?
The print feature was titled Angling for a Niche Market Expansion and appeared in the magazine’s Small Business section.
Who wrote the original FisheWear article?
Tasha Anderson wrote the May 2017 feature. The photographed spread also credits Judy Patrick Photography.
Was the article only about FisheWear’s Kickstarter?
No. The Kickstarter was one part of a broader small-business profile covering Linda Leary’s vision, FisheWear’s early products, artist collaborations, customer demand, and plans for growth.
Did Alaska Business cover FisheWear again?
Yes. Alaska Business published a 2023 story about FisheWear opening a second Anchorage storefront and expanding the visibility of its Alaska-inspired women’s fishing and outdoor gear.
Related Reading
How FisheWear Changed Women’s Fishing Apparel
Follow Linda Leary’s path from an overlooked need to an Alaska-born apparel brand built around women.
The Troutrageous Rainbow Pattern Story
See how an artist’s design and nearly 300 supporters helped an early Fishe pattern reach the water.
How the Fishe x Orvis Collaboration Grew
Revisit the partnership that carried Fishe artwork from an Alaska startup onto technical fly-fishing gear.
An Early Feature in a Much Bigger Story
The May 2017 spread captured FisheWear while the company was still defining what came next. It recognized something already clear: women deserved better choices, and an Alaska business was building them.
