Dressing the West - Wisdom by WESA

0:00You are listening to the Horse Radio Network, part of the Ecline Network family. This is episode 179 of Wisdom by Wesa on the Horse Radio Network. This is Jennifer Heber. I'm Morgan Nicole. And this is Sophia Galat. Welcome to Wisdom by Wesa on the Horse Radio Network, part of the Ecline Network family. Woohoo! We've all had time to decompress following the August 2026 trade show. Sophia, what stood out for you on the show floor this time around? So what I noticed this time is really the effort that everybody puts into their temporary booth or permanent showroom. People moved in early, they brought in more team members to make sure everything is set on time. So overall the show, the products, the decor, even the outfits, the parties, everything

1:03looked great and you could really tell how excited everybody was and how much effort they put into this. I think it's, it's, people are realizing the importance of the person to person contact in those relationships. For a little while, I think those were set aside. We all thought that everything was going to become virtual and we've come back around and realized that those relationships are key and you do need to do something visually to help yourself stand out because there are a lot of vendors at Wesa. Yes, the relationships and also then the experiences that the exhibitors create for the buyers are really key during this time. There we go. Well, we've had, I think more than ever, we had more international exhibitors than before. Haven't we this time around? Yes, the number of international stores and also the international exhibitors keeps growing. And with that, of course, the number of countries represented at Wesa is quite impressive. And we just love seeing all the different cultures, all the different equine disciplines

2:06coming together at Wesa and kind of just seeing what each, either Western or English means in different countries for different cultures and then seeing it all come together at Wesa. That's really exciting. It is. It's a, it's a veritable smorgasbord of different equestrian cultures. Anybody who spent any time in the United States going from region to region in the equestrian community will realize that something that is common every day, something in the mid-Atlantic States, somebody from the Northwest may have never heard of or has never done, both in techniques and in products. So it's really neat that we get to see that process of learning about different cultures expand worldwide now. Exactly. And that's why Wesa is where the industry meets. There we go.

3:06Well, and speaking of meeting the industry, can you tell us about our guest today, Morgan? Yes. Today, we are talking Western men's wear with someone who has been in the business for truly decades. We're going to be speaking with Larry Bitterman. He is the founder of Frontier by Lawrence Scott, formerly old Frontier clothing co. It's a Los Angeles-based brand known for bringing historic Western and Victorian influences into sophisticated modern clothing. Well, today we have quite the Wesa legend here. We have Larry, a member of Wesa, for over 20 years. Larry, welcome to the show. Thank you. Good morning to all of you. Yes, we are so excited to jump into your story today about you creating sophisticated men's wear specifically for our industry.

4:08Tell me a little bit just about yourself and your background of what led you to building where you're at now. Okay. Well, I'll be happy to. Thank you for the opportunity. First off, I'd like to just make one slight correction. We actually are men's and women's. We've been doing beautiful ladies' jackets for a while now. I guess this is one of the common misconceptions because clearly we started more or less as a men's wear company because I started design for our line those things that I would like to have. So being that I'm coming from a male perspective, I think that was certainly an easy entry point for me. But I'm reminded that I don't want to digress too much, but I'm reminded by Steven Spielberg interview once where somebody asked him how he knew how to make these fabulous blockbuster movies.

5:09And Spielberg's answer was he just makes things that he wants to see. And I thought that was interesting. It's kind of resonated with me. But yeah, to a large extent, sometimes I have to kind of force myself to think, well, I'm not really keen on it. But would the general public or would other people more likely than myself like it without talking too much about things which I have a tendency to do? The history is kind of an interesting one. The long and short of it is I'm an East Coast kid and I was going to college on the East Coast in Washington, DC. And I got accepted to law school, college called Southwestern University Law School. So that's what really brought me to the West Coast. And after graduating law school and practicing law for a little bit, I decided it really was not for me. I guess for a multitude of reasons. But consequently, my wife at that time had a beauty salon and her clients were ranch

6:13people who had property outside of LA in a little area called Lancaster. And they kept inviting us to come up and ride. And we were very laxed days ago about it and said, sure, one of these days, I guess. But eventually ended up going up there. And it was absolutely a cathartic experience. I had written all my life as a kid. I started on English on the East Coast. But now I'm riding the Wolfaster which I was perfectly familiar with. And it was just life altering. I mean, I just really felt bells and whistles go off. So at that point, I had fallen in love with the lifestyle. And I'm now trying to figure out, is there some way that I can make a career out of this? And I looked at what was going on in Western Wear. And I really just felt that there was nothing being offered, especially for men, but nothing being offered in general with a level of high fashion and quality and well-made and tailored

7:18and et cetera, et cetera. So that was originally my calling, I guess. And that was where it started. But the sad reality is I knew nothing about clothing, design, and manufacturing. I thought essentially I would wave a magic wand and this stuff would appear. So I really had to teach myself the entire manufacturing process. Wow, how neat. Now tell me, when you started looking at the pain points of this men's fashion, what were you seeing that really was missing? Okay, well that's easy enough to answer. I mean, first of all, from a fabrication standpoint, everything was polyester. I was not a big fan of it. I kind of had a little bit of a background in fashion because when I was in college, I worked at a couple of very, very fine men's stores.

8:18And I just really felt that polyester, which has actually improved significantly since then. And that was a long time ago. I can't even do the math. But in any event, I do remember when I first started dressing Western and I really completely embraced the lifestyle. And I was in a thrift store the other day and I saw a Kenny Rogers Western shirt from the old Kenny Rogers Western collection. And that's what I was kind of wearing. That's what was available at the time. And it was fun. And you know, it had the bells and the whistles and everything. And it was poorly made. I didn't like the fabric. And then what was even more interesting is I was coming from sort of a tailored men's background. And as I started doing my research, I realized that what they really were wearing in the old West, if you will, was English Victorian clothing. And that resonated a lot more with me because again, it was more on the lines of a Brooks

9:22brothers or a Ralph Lauren or something like that. And that's what I was wearing and that's what I was comfortable with. So it dawned on me that something that I already was embracing was in fact true to what it was that I ended up doing. I love that. And I know that you built so much around those frog coats and the best. Like you mentioned, those tailored pieces with the historic detail. I think that is, I mean, it's a testament to what you were not only trying to build and now what you've built up, making sure that history and attention to detail continues, you know, with this new age of fashion. There's a lot of fast fashion now and some companies, you know, might be compromising their quality. But I know that your brand frontier by Lawrence Scott, I mean, you've hold very true to your roots. Thank you.

10:23I appreciate that. It is something that I think bears witness because again, some people are in it, you know, just for the quick buck and we've always been really looking at it as kind of a, you know, an industry changing event, if you will. And it's actually been, it's been 35 years, I think, since I started this. Of course, I joke and I say I was eight when I started. But with Wisa, I think it even extends beyond the 20 years that we originally talked about. I think it might even be closer to 30, but, you know, I'm not really quite sure. It's been a long time. I mean, no matter how you slice it. But, you know, there are a couple of things that I guess this is a good opportunity to kind of dispel a few rumors or anecdotes that I guess around the company. When I started doing all this, it was interesting because I really did collect a lot of historical pieces.

11:23As a matter of fact, I've got kind of a museum quality collection at this point. But one of the benefits and detractions, I guess, to what it is that I've been doing is that we are very, very adamant about the fact that we are building fashion clothing. It has it into almost say fashion western clothing because it really transcends Western. I had a guy at a retail setting that I was at one point come in and say, wow, I really, really like the clothing, but I don't dress Western. And I stared him right back and I said, good, it's English because it really does have kind of almost a bespoke element to it. So again, you know, the perception is easy enough to fall into because we kind of started with those longer jackets, froccoats, if you will. And they do kind of pigeonhole us a little bit into sort of a genre. But we've gone way beyond that at this point.

12:23I've actually come out with a new jacket that I introduced at this last visa. And it is really a purely Western jacket. It is my homage to the Western sport coat. It's got yolks in the front and back and, you know, it's got scalloped pockets with Western treatment to it. And I love Western clothing. I love that traditional Western look. It's just that it was never really done well except if you jump all the way back to like the 30s and the 40s. I mean, at that time, they were doing beautiful gabardines and woolens and fabulous stuff. And then somehow or no of that morphed into a polyester blend and then even worse yet, you know, just pure polyester. But yeah, there is a historical element, but I always tell people that we are borrowing small components of what I consider to be a very romantic period in time, which was the late 1800s. I mean, it really did wreak of elegance, but we are only really incorporating bits and

13:29pieces. And probably even as we move forward, getting away from that even a little bit more, because again, I want to be perceived as a fashion company. And if you go too far into the historical aspects, you become accustomed. And that's certainly something we don't want to be. Yes. I know I had more questions on that. By think Jennifer, did you have a question? Well, I have a comment. I was gushing over the clothing on the website at Frontier LS.com. And we're very proud of the website right now. The men's town coats in particular, the plaid. Oh my gosh, you could wear that to the fringe in Edinburgh and you would be the talk of the town. Well, it's funny. You would mention Edinburgh. I usually like to escape to Europe once a year. And Edinburgh was my trip just before the last one.

14:30And I was absolutely like over the moon. I mean, the tartans, the plaids, and you're absolutely right. I was in love beyond, you know, obsession at that point. And yes, there's something to be said about a lot of those tartans and plaids. And once again, back in the period of time that we were referring to moments ago, I mean, they wore black. That was about it. And again, I've got a lot of Taylor books and, you know, references. Some of these Taylor books are great because they actually have swatches of fabric that you would have ordered your clothing that way from a Taylor. You would have poured over these books. And there were tweeds and there were other things. But in the vests is where they introduced color. But the jackets to a very large extent were black or gray. And we are about color. We are about textures and patterns. And that's, I think, what takes us outside of the historical ramifications is that it

15:34really, really does become fashion. Well, it's lovely because you're taking the cut and the style that is historically accurate. But you are using fabrics and colors and patterns that really appeal to the 21st century shopper. And it's really, really beautiful. It's very obvious you're not doing this on a trend. You're really putting a lot of thought into it and taking into consideration the entire outfit that will be created once you put, when you put that plaid jacket on, you took into consideration what needs to go under it. So the whole thing will look beautiful because sometimes designers will make an article of clothing that doesn't go with anything else. Yeah. Yeah. No, that's true. And thank you so much for the nice words and for more or less figuring us out. And I do think that that really, in essence, becomes sort of the turning point of what we

16:38consider to be the challenges of continuing to explore broader markets at this point is that even with we, I think, to a large extent, there was a little bit of pigeonholing going on. And when you start something one way, and I do think that we made kind of a big splash I think when we first started going to Weesa and just showing these longer frocos, there was a lot of association with Wyatt Earp. I had other companies that were out there really specializing in it as an old West look. I mean, Womaker comes to mind, which has since become scully. And I think that they've moved away from that a little bit, but they still may do it to a certain extent. But yeah, I mean, it was a little bit of guilt by association because they were doing really a period look and it was all kind of bolstered around that long froc code.

17:43And we were there at one point and then started moving beyond that. And it was very hard to get a footing to get beyond that point. We actually do an awful lot of weddings coincidentally, which that longer black jacket, even though we're not offering it as a period look, it is a very nice formal look. And even I guess if you go to Tuxedo rental places these days, you can still rent longer froc style jackets, but weddings have become really universal. And these are not people that are just locked into doing Western weddings, much less period weddings. And I'll throw one other little thing in just before I let you kind of get a word in edgewise here is that, you know, not only is it introducing fabrics and contemporary textures and colors and patterns, but again, it's all about the fit and the form. Somebody once came up to me and said, is the clothing period accurate?

18:45And my, my joke line was, no, it's not. If it was period accurate, it would be uncomfortable and it would fall apart because again, if you, yeah, I mean, I mean, I mean, and truly a lot of those older pieces are just thread there. And what's interesting is that if you look at the old photographs, a lot of those guys look like they're strapped into a straight jacket. And that's not by accident. There was absolutely no movement built into that clothing. So they are arching their back and throwing their shoulders backwards and literally forced into that position for the camera. But I have always said we are designing our clothing for a modern man or a modern woman. You got to be able to dance, move around and whatever else you're going to do in it. It's got to, it's got to have freedom of movement. I love that. And I know you had shared that little story of whenever you were working in retail and helping a customer, let's kind of go back to that of, you know, a lot of people might

19:51be scared to take this jump into dipping into this really timeless fashion. How can you encourage retailers to carry this in their stores and maybe how to encourage their customers to buy this truly authentic look? You know, it's not a costume. It is truly timeless. Wow. That's really such a great question. And it is going to be the mantra, if you will, of everything that I try to do moving forward with Weesa. Because once again, because of our presentation, very often I will be set up at a Weesa show. And we have mannequins beautifully dressed and accessorized. And I guess the key word is accessorized, which I will circle back to in a second. But people have walked by and I've actually done a lot of business just selling personal garments to men and women who just want it for themselves, but they may not even be selling

20:56clothing. They may be a tax store. They may be whatever. But the clothing has such an emotional response. But again, you can sort of see the quality. It just kind of jumps off the mannequin. And I might throw in at this point everything is made in the US, which I'm being told that I'm not pushing that enough because everything is made in China or Vietnam or the Philippines or you name it. And we build everything right here in Los Angeles. Last time I checked, that's still in the US. So everything is made here in the US. I think it's important. I think it's important to these Western customers, particularly. But to answer your question more directly about presentation and retailers, I actually have put together a sales manual or a sales presentation, if you will, because having done this for such a long time, sales to me should be fun.

21:57And it is a science and you can do it wrong or you can do it right. So that is my first blush response. And I don't want to talk down to any of my retailers, but there's absolutely 100% a way of selling in general, much less my garments, okay? And all too often these days, I see very young salespeople who've had no training at all. And they basically, if you're lucky, will point you in the direction of your size and you're done. I train all of my people very, very thoroughly to do certain things, including sizing a guy up visually and putting that jacket on him without asking, but just saying, hey, take a look at this. Once it's on somebody's back, then the garment will almost sell itself, but you literally have to know how to sell. And I could talk at length about sales techniques and overcoming objections and all of the

22:58like, but it's in a sales seminar that I've put together. I'd like to refine it even further and distribute it to all the people. I think it would help them sell everything that they have in their store, not just my product. And the last thing that I'll add to that is merchandising. Merchandising also is a science. A lot of these store owners do not have any idea what that means. And it can be very effective to cross over with other products that you're carrying. For example, have mannequins, have tons of mannequins, dress them up, make them look spectacular. And it doesn't just have to be my stuff. Take my jacket, put it with a, you know, a Stetson Western shirt and then something else and cross market everything that you've got in your store. You'll sell both of them. You'll sell the whole look if you're successful with it. But again, to summarize, sales is not a given.

23:58It is a science. It must be done right and merchandising is critical because if you just put it on a hanger with a lot of other garments, it's just going to be lost. You have to merchandise. You know, Larry, that is such a wonderful nugget of wisdom there. I really like what you said about having the retailers, sales associates, actually putting them on the consumers' backs. I think you're right. This product is something that will sell itself. And also someone who is stepping into wearing a brand-like frontier for the first time, they need guidance and they need really the tone to be said, hey, this is how you style it. This is where you wear it to. This is the importance of having quality pieces in your closet. Jumping from that, what story do you really want a man wearing frontier to tell?

24:59Well, in essence, you know, the clients that I've had and they vary tremendously, but I think that on a very, very basic level, the clothing that I'm putting on people and again, for some reason, the conversation always sort of circles back around men, I think that it's a confidence building process and a confidence building look. Now I don't want a stereotype and say that men need that more than women because I don't think it's true, but to a large extent, women do seem to be a little bit more empowered by fashion, whether it's societal or whether it's true advertising and such. I just see it a little bit more with the men, only because I think that men have also been significantly ignored by the fashion business. Definitely the Western fashion business. I've always said that in the world at large, and I'm a student of fashion and I'm a guilty

26:00as charged consumer of fashion. I mean, Armani and Versace and Varvato's and Ralph Lauren, fabulous merchandisers and certainly given men a lot more opportunity than they've had in the past, but I've seen men stand differently once they put the clothing on. I mean, I've had, you know, dare I say groupies that literally just want to be part of our orbit. Once we've dressed them, two guys come to mind. Very recently I was at Cheyenne Frontier days and I dressed these two guys and God bless them. We couldn't get rid of them. I mean, they came by the booth. They were helping me sell other people. They were like, look at me, look at me and you can look this good as well. It was absolutely stunning to see this metamorphosis take place. And again, it is not uncommon, which again, I have found myself saying in the past, it's

27:08amazing the obsession, if you will, or the, you know, just the idle worship for lack of a better term, but it seems to be life altering in a lot of ways. I've always said, gee, I'm really just selling clothing here. I'm not carrying cancer. I don't really get it, but it is something that I've never seen done before. I'm kind of surprised we have not been knocked off left, right, in sideways, but, you know, maybe they think it's a niche product and they're not that interested in it, but it's really not the case. I mean, I sell beautiful shirts. I mean, who doesn't wear a shirt with a pair of jeans? So it doesn't have to be the whole look. And as a matter of fact, very often, and part of my little sales seminar is, listen, you're going to take this home and you're going to find many, many other things in your closet that are going to look great with this.

28:08I will then end it by saying, however, you're not going to put it together with something like I'm about to show you. So give them the understanding that, yeah, this is really unique stuff. And we know how to put it together, but it certainly doesn't mean that you have to wear my shirt and my tie and my vest and my jacket in order to look like you knew what you were doing. It goes with everything. Wow. This story has been truly remarkable. And we are just so appreciative to hear your wisdom and your insight on this. And wow, tell people how they can shop frontier or maybe how they can get a hold of you to wholesale. Oh, that's an easy question. I mean, first of all, we have a very, very competent staff that can help them if they call any of our numbers of which there are a few. The general office number is going to be three, two, three, six, four, three, zero, zero,

29:14zero, zero. Now I got all those zeros. I will never know. But also the website is frontier L S dot com. So again, it's the word frontier, the letters L for Lawrence, the letter S for Scott frontier L S dot com. We have Tisha at the ready. We have Angie managing the store. We're on Instagram as frontier by Lauren Scott. We're also on Facebook and you can find us under frontier by Lauren Scott. There you have it frontier by Lauren Scott. Thank you so much, Larry, for today. It's been a real pleasure. I hope we can do this again. And that was a great chat. You'll find all the links from today's episodes in the show notes and make sure you subscribe to the wisdom by Westle podcast on your favorite podcast player. You can choose Apple podcasts or Spotify. I even listen on Audible. Yes, you can do that.

30:14And wherever you listen, you're never going to miss the conversations that are shaping the equine industry. That's right, Jennifer. We have new wisdom by West set and retail roundup episodes dropping every Thursday available on the wisdom by Westle podcast feed.