When I lived down on the Westside, I spent WAAAY too much time at Sid Mashburn. Sid and his staff became friends – and I’m still close with many of them today. I don’t have to get into the Mashburn ethos – most of you are aware of the world class operation happening off Howell Mill Road.
Saturday mornings were my favorite time to go visit. I’d walk over the bridge with a cup of coffee, hang with Donnie, Randall, and Nathan, and we’d dissect the college football games, new music, etc. It was a blast…and now it seems like so long ago.
Nathan has since moved to Birmingham and started a life over there. He’s still in the business, but has started his own venture: Secret Society, a high-end tie company that is crushing it. I have a few of his ties, and absolutely love them: the weight, the construction, and especially the designs. Nathan is bullish on ties making a comeback, and from the looks of it, he’s not wrong.
He was nice enough to sit down for a little chat…I hope you enjoy!:
Since your days at Sid Mashburn (where we used to hang out), what have you been up to? Man, those were the days! Very little responsibility (outside of my shop managerial duties) has been replaced with getting married, moving from Atlanta to Birmingham, where my wife is from, starting a family, and raising two beautiful little girls. When we moved, Mashburn was kind enough to create a role for me to manage operations remotely for all five (at the time) of the stores, but it wasn’t fulfilling or honing my skill set. I missed the face-to-face interaction, serving customers, and just the overall vibe of working in a men’s shop. I was courted away by a 100+ year old shop in Birmingham called Shaia’s of Homewood. Great history. Great family. Great team.
Lots of wonderful products and brands – not to mention incredible customers. So, it’s been good, man. God is good. I‘m blessed. But, definitely miss the gang from Mashburn. I actually got back by to see a lot of them recently when I was passing through town to go to Clemson for the LSU game. It’s also exciting to see some of the other Mashburn alumni, guys like Matt Lambert and Nick Yu, doing their thing at Factor’s, and Jonathan Baker doing his thing at Intown Golf Club. And of course, Randall, Alex, CK, Taylor, and Tom Jackson are all still holding court at the Mashburn Flagship shop.
What made you want to start Secret Society? I mean, it’s really been an idea bouncing around my head from before my Mashburn days. When I lived in Baton Rouge after college, I was working on fleshing out the idea of a small shop. I had the location in my sights, it was this cool old gas station (think Imogene and Willie before they remodeled it), but if possible, even smaller. It was a historical marker, and the guy who owned it seemed a bit of a hoarder, but was warming up to me and the idea of maybe selling or leasing it. But life got in the way, and I had to put that dream on hold. I moved to Atlanta and basically begged for a job at Sid when I got there. Felt like I was going from high school ball to the big leagues as a day 1 starter and had to learn a lot quickly. But man, I’m not sure there was a better group of guys to watch and learn from. That team was tight-knit. Tons of talent. Very dedicated retail pros. Then, watching Sid and the design team and Matt and his process just kept inspiring me and batting the Secret Society ball around in my head. I used to make my own bow ties after college. Still, bows were a bit frowned upon at Mashburn unless your name was Ed Cleavenger; you were expected to wear a four ‘n’ hand tie, which wasn’t hard because we had some really great necktie brands and some really beautiful ties. Hence, my passion morphed, along with the idea to do a tie line instead of a store – ya know – with aspirations to maybe try and grow it into something else. A lifestyle brand, Lord willing.
How do you pick the silks and fabrics for the ties? Because I’m still in a full-time retail position, I feel like I have a slight advantage, as I’m heavily involved in the market process each season. Helping Ken, the owner of Shaia’s, with “the buy” allows me to see the jackets, suits, colors, patterns, etc that are going to be dominating the menswear shops in a year, and because I don’t have to move as far in advance on the silks, it gives me a little bit of a cheat code. From a sales perspective, I think if you’re selling a jacket or suit, we should show at least two, and probably three, ties and squares that go with a jacket. So, I just map out where the trends are and then try to identify what the patterns and colors are that will complement them. But, sometimes it’s just a gut feeling, ya know? A certain fabric or stripe color really speaks to you. I like to think my style is a mixture of classic (think reps and foulards) with a little rock n roll (think color and pattern), so I try to have a little of everything and not be a one-trick pony. Ultimately, in design and curation, I think we all just gravitate to what we like and want to wear.
What are some of your favorite designs? This season, I was definitely feeling the exploded paisley. Have a few in the assortment with differing colors. So much of the tailored clothing and suiting the last couple of seasons, following the Covid Pandemic, was back to basics, lots of navy and gray, so I like the brighter colors to give the outfit some punch. From last season, that retro diamond you picked up was killer and a definite go-to in my own personal wardrobe. I wear a lot of university and Bengal striped shirts so I definitely gravitate to bolder striped ties that stand up to them and gun checks and plaids for the Fall season.
We also started this season designing our own pocket squares that we’re having printed and rolled in Como, Italy. The home of printed silk. This season, they have a football motif and some Aztec-type patterns, too.
What kind of customer is a Secret Society guy? I don’t know. I’ve never met ‘em. It’s like Lil Wayne says, they’re all moving around in silence like the g in lasagna. No, but seriously, I think the Secret Society customer is a big tent. Some might be like me, I wanted to be the lead singer of a hair metal band, the only problem was I couldn’t sing, so the idea of standing out in a crowd sounds good, so maybe they like the louder, bolder offerings. Others may also be like me, in that they’re inspired by classic Ivy sensibilities and like neat dots and rep stripes. Either way, they both understand decorum and sense of respect for those around them, and know putting a tie on helps them put their best foot forward – and hopefully they leave the trashing of hotel rooms to the actual rock stars.
What do you like to do outside of running Secret Society? When you work a retail schedule, you’re left with a wonky weekend, so my off days are Sunday and Monday. After church on Sunday, my wife and I really try to make it “Family Day” and invest in our time with the kids. Mondays are usually my catch-up/prep for Secret Society’s week, so I do things like prepping social posts, writing email newsletters, and doing inventory counts, etc. It’s a lot going on, so I wake up early, man. The alarm usually goes off at 440am, and I try to spend a few minutes stretching, then read a chapter or two in my Bible and pray to get the morning started right. Journal, then read whatever book I’m reading at the time.
Then work out with my wife when she gets up. I also use the mornings to write at times. I finished writing a novel about a year and a half ago (loosely based on my mom’s childhood) and have since started working on another (period piece set in the 80s with hair-metal as the backdrop – go figure). I also do some oil painting, but it has fallen way way way to the wayside. You’re a Dead Head, so if you’re ever in The Family Dog in Atlanta, check out my Jerry Garcia hanging on the wall.
What’s on your Spotify playlist? I assume you mean outside of the Frozen, Moana, and Beauty and the Beast soundtracks that my kids can’t get enough of? I keep a heavy dose of outlaw country, like Willie, Waylon, and those Boys. Merle Haggard’s Back to the Barrooms and Gary Stewart’s Out of Hand records stay in constant rotation. I have a friend from high school who is making really incredible psychedelic country – I call it that – I don’t know what he’d call it – Jesse Woods. It’s great. I listen to it a lot and can’t get enough. But for the most part, it’s all about the ’70s and ’80s glam stuff. It’s what I was raised on, and it lives in my veins. Guns N Roses, Motley Crue, Poison, Cinderella, Great White, but also the guys that inspired them, T. Rex, UFO, Zeppelin, The Yardbirds, Bowie. I also love a band called The Weeks from Jackson, Mississippi. Their stuff can easily be played any day of the week. But if I’m entertaining or having a date night in, we will almost always put Sam Cooke’s Live at Harlem Square record on.
Check out the whole Secret Society collection here.
Mashburn really does employ the coolest people, don’t they?
Yes, tires are slowly making a comeback! I’ve noticed more at business conferences, at weddings, in church, etc. Admittedly, I don’t think I have purchased a new tie in five years, so I need to step up my own tie game.
Will definitely add a tie or two from Secret Society.
Great interview.
Great interview. Very cool brand I wasn’t familiar with. I love these style ties. In college, a roommate moved out and left a whole box of old brooks brothers hand-me-down ties with a similar aesthetic. My ties came from Belks and were ok for my purposes, but I kept those BB ties. They were so cool and I still have them through many years and moves. Can’t wait to buy one of these from secret society.