Lord of the Ties

Thatcher Spring comes from a long line of entrepreneurs. His great-great-great-grandfather founded Boston shipping firm E. Atkins and Company; his great-grandfather launched the Belmont Hill School. Last year, in typical family fashion, the 25-year-old Spring—former nationally ranked sailor, newly licensed pilot, and self-professed adventurer—left a Capitol Hill internship to strike out on his own. After researching a number of businesses, he determined there was a hole in the fashion industry: an absence of high-end, American-made men’s neckwear. Off he flew to Italy to find fabrics and design patterns that would form the first line of Thatcher Spring ties.

Bankrolled by a summer sailing instructor job, Spring promoted his freshman effort for fall 2006 by driving down the eastern seaboard, stopping in at dozens of upscale menswear boutiques. “I thought it’d be a lot easier than it was,” he says. “I had to walk in each door with the same amount of energy, even if I had just gotten turned down.”

This season, his new African-themed collection will land in 75 stores nationwide, including Zareh in Boston. Spring compares the line, made from Italian silk and adorned with tiny animal prints (elephants, rhinos, giraffes), to those from European stalwarts like Hermès and Ferragamo. Like theirs, his neckwear hews to a narrower silhouette that he insists is more elegant than the wider American tie. But his pieces, which cost between $85 and $110, come in distinctly American hues: rich purples, bright oranges, and a few pastels. “They may be preppy,” he says, “but sophisticated preppy. These aren’t frat-party ties—you can wear them to a cocktail party or a Fortune 500 board meeting.”

Thatcher Spring ties are available at Zareh, One Liberty Sq., Boston, 617-350-6070; and the Andover Shop, 22 Holyoke St., Cambridge, 617-876-4900, theandovershop.com.