CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Cleveland native Sasha Koehnand his business partner,Erik Schnakenberg, will pitch their Buck Masonmade-in-the-USA line of men's jeans, T-shirts and oxford shirts on tonight's episode of the ABC hit show "Shark Tank."
The Co-Chief Executives' task: To convince a panel of skeptical, self-made tycoons to green-light and invest in their Venice, California-based company. The "sharks" have a reputation for tearingapart fledgling businesses they deem unworthy.
The two men already know the outcome of the show, but aren't allowed to say what happened or how it turned out. They will both be watching from Los Angeles; follow along using the hashtag #buckmason.
"It was filmed almost a year ago, so it been a crazy anticipation for our episode to finally air," Koehn, 33, said via email. All he would say is "We pitched our business."
"Shark Tank" airs at 8 p.m. Eastern, 7 p.m. Central on ABC.
Buck Mason, founded in 2013, sells its clothing online and via one brick-and-mortar store in Venice, California. Its merchandise ranges from 100-percent cotton slub tees for $24, to oxford button-downs for $88, to indigo jeans for between $135 and $155.
"Our 12 oz. 100% cotton denim fabric was loomed in Greensboro, North Carolina, at Cone Mills White Oak factorywhere they've been manufacturing denim for 109 years. They are built to last," the company explains on its website.
The clothes are also available as $247 outfits: "The Bruce" includes a pair of jeans, a white cotton T-shirt, and a white cotton oxford, and "The Buck" includes a pair of indigo jeans, a light blue chambray work shirt, and a white cotton V-neck.
Although not everyone who wants to appear on "Shark Tank" is accepted, "We actually got contacted by one of the shows producers to be on it. I think they were already a customer of ours and felt like we'd be a good fit for the show. We were really fortunate in that I think over 40,000 companies applied this season to be on it," Koehn said.
Koehn was born in Cleveland and grew up in South Euclid. He graduated from University Schoolin 1999 before going on to earn a bachelor's degree in landscape architecture from the University of Wisconsin -- Madison.
His parents, Norbert and Victoria, are both sculptors and run agift shop and tea house cafe called TheSanctuaryonGreenon Green Road in South Euclid.
Koehn and Schnakenberg, 31, of Concordia, Missouri, met as neighbors in Venice."Erik had this idea in his head for a while about simplifying the men's shopping experience. He has a retail and apparel background and was coming at it from a clothing style standpoint. it was all about ignoring trends and only focusing on the essentials that every guy needs," Koehn said.
"I actually have no background in fashion and came from the tech and media world prior to starting Buck Mason, so all I was thinking about was how this all would look to the end customer and what story we would tell. Fortunately, making a product in America was very important to both of us, and that is what ultimately pushed us to create Buck Mason. We couldn't see ourselves having our clothing made overseas. We just wouldn't be happy with ourselves," he said. "After doing more research into it, we found that less than 3 percent of clothing purchased in America is actually made in America. Buck Mason exists to change this."
Buck Mason is a made-up word. "My partner and I both loved the word 'Mason' because it connects to our fathers, as Erik's was a brick mason and mine is a stone sculptor. 'Buck' was the strongest-sounding word that we felt we could put in front of it," Koehn said.
Their clothing is as much about the attitude as the apparel. "Where we're from, the best dressed man is the one whose character is apparent in the way he wears his jeans," they say on their website.
"Buck Mason was born out of an obsession with standing out by being subtle, buying smart and affirming the true, classic heartland cool that we grew up on. Cool is effortless, stable and poised. It's the never-loud, always honest, unfailing preamble to timelessness. Cool is what happens when a picture of you today resurfaces in 30 years and people say, 'He's still got it.'"
Koehn said his business was "absolutely" influenced by his Cleveland roots. "I think being raised by two self-employed parents who ran a business and studio out of our house gave me a first-hand look into every aspect of running a business," he said.
"It's hard to describe, but growing up in Cleveland kind of gives you somesensibilities that are earned only by just being here."
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Source: http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2015/04/clevelands_own_sasha_koehn_pitches_his_buck_mason_clothing_on_shark_tank_tonight.html
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