This just in…Minnesota is cool. Like New York cool. Like Barney cool.  

Yep, stalwart Duluth Pack Company a gear manufacturer long known for it's canvas and leather canoe packs and outfitting gear, has capitalized on a new throwback hipness that has taken over New York high fashion.  Apparently, the old school craftsmanship of fellow Americans is the latest "something" that people who think they're cool and who have too much money are into.

Good for Duluth Pack. They're ramping up production to keep pace with the demand.  

This according to Micheal Williams, a New York-based men's apparel marketer and expert in the so called "heritage brands trend,"

"Minnesota is exporting cool. I don't know what's in the water in Minnesota, but these companies have stayed true to their roots. That's something fairly rare."  He continued, "Being patriotic and being 'Made in the USA' used to be a truck driver thing. Now all these creative young people are doing it. That's a seismic shift."

Well, creative young people or truck drivers aside, Duluth Packs' CEO is stoked. Even if he missed his first hunting season in the last thirty years - he was at Barney's in Manhattan promoting the company's new exclusive Barney's collection and  hanging out with models and other "creative young people."

Hells bells, maybe I'll take all my blogging money and pick up one of these "Duluth Packs."  I'm a creative young person.  

Via the Star Tribune and Paddling.net