Chicago, 1933. Ambition whistled through the Windy City, but employment did not. Like the rest of America, Chicago was at the height of the Great Depression, and those fortunate enough to have jobs were desperate to hold onto them. Just four years prior, unemployment was at 3%. It now stood at 25.
Despite the soaring unemployment rates Chicago refused to grind to a standstill. Steel continued to rise skyward, railway tracks were continually expanded, and Lake Michigan was harbouring more boats than ever. It was during these testing times, when most were tightening their belts, that Jim Murphy and Harry Gale Nye Jr., would embark on a joint business venture that would define the rest of their lives.
Inspired by the constant arrival of boats in their hometown, the pair hired a modest loft near the docks and began stitching canvas and cotton sails under the name Murphy & Nye Sailmakers.
Sailing in the 1930s was not quite a sport of luxury like it is today – it was about grit, salt, and endurance. Murphy & Nye weren’t just making a product; they were manufacturing lifelines. The materials were raw, the weather unforgiving, and every sail had to function as intended. Murphy & Nye began to build its name on dependability, word quickly travelled around the nautical world about sails that refused to tear, and continually caught the wind. The company’s early success came from one simple principle: make things that last.
Against all odds, Murphy & Nye (and their sails) weathered the storm kicked up by the Great Depression. And as America now looked eastward toward modernity, Murphy & Nye’s reputation travelled westward across the Atlantic. By the 1970s, the brand had arrived on the Italian shores of La Spezia, where its functional ethos met the craftsmanship and style of the Mediterranean. It was here that the brand would evolve from sail-making to clothing production under a debut collection titled ‘Sailwear‘. The same stitching that once held sails would now reinforce jackets. The same canvas that faced the wind would now protect sailors on deck. Performance and durability, the principles that birthed Murphy & Nye’s success in the sail-making industry, had now been carried over to produce nautical wear built for life on and off the water.
Sailwear quickly found favour not only among those with maritime vocations, but with landlubbers too. Its hardwearing construction and understated styling made it the choice of anyone who required durable outerwear with considered design.
That blend of performance and style reached its height in 1992, when Murphy & Nye designed the crew uniforms for Il Moro di Venezia – a striking red-hulled yacht that carried Italy to the forefront of international sailing. Designed by Raul Gardini and skippered by America’s Paul Cayard, Il Moro won the Louis Vuitton Cup, becoming the first non-English-speaking challenger to reach the America’s Cup final.
The Louis Vuitton Cup victory would catapult Murphy & Nye to the fore, and their humble sailcloth would begin to evolve further into technical fabrics; deck jackets were reimagined as fashion items, and the brand’s signature red logo was now present across the entire globe. But beneath every zipper and bartacked seam, the original spirit set out in that loft in 1933 remained: a respect for the elements, and for the craft that tames them.
It’s this enduring spirit that drew us to Murphy & Nye in the first place. We’ve long admired the brand from afar, so when they approached us to get involved with their FW25 campaign, we didn’t hesitate to come aboard.
The Italian brand wanted us to put our own spin on things, but we quickly realised that the British coastline is a far cry from La Spezia, even at the best of times. If we were going to shoot Murphy & Nye in Britain, it would be in a way that reacquainted them with the harsh realities of sailing that founded the brand nearly a century ago in Chicago.
After scouring almost every inch of coastline on Google Maps, we eventually settled on Lymington, a quiet coastal town on the edge of the Solent. As nice as Lymington was, we didn’t select it for its own merit – it was here we would be loading a noble vessel called Kalea with Murphy & Nye gear and setting sail toward the western tip of the Isle of Wight. A place defined by towering white cliffs and crashing waves – the kind of landscape that never seems to sleep, constantly pulling and pushing against the wind and tide.
As we set out onto the water, the collection looked and felt at home. Blue hardshell jackets resonated with the choppy foam of the ocean, their waterproof fabrics repelling any whiff of spray that rose over the bow. We shot knee braced against the deck, waiting for the right break in the clouds, trying not to get distracted by the ever-approaching view of the Isle of Wight.
As we drew closer to the island’s shore, shell jackets gave way to padded vests and sailing coats. Their quilted textures in signature Murphy & Nye red contrasted sharply against the looming chalk-white cliffs.
After three hours on the water circling the Isle of Wight, we noticed we weren’t just shooting the product. We were genuinely field testing it. Each product had to withstand the elements coming from all angles – relentless wind, crashing waves and the occasional downpour. And none of it put a foot wrong. Loose anoraks allowed for a full range of motion when hauling ropes, while caps and explorer hats, flecked with salt, proved essential against a low-slung sun peeking occasionally from the clouds.
By the time we turned Kalea 180 degrees back toward Lymington, the wind had dropped slightly, the sky softened to muted greys, and every garment we’d shot carried the faint trace of salt. Standing on deck, it hit us just how far Murphy & Nye has travelled – yet how much of its original spirit remains intact.
We weren’t just shooting product — like we’ve done countless times before — but participating in a story. One that started in Chicago, gained traction in Italy, and now found itself on Britain’s South Coast. From crafting sails on Lake Michigan to outfitting the crew of Il Moro di Venezia as it claimed the Louis Vuitton Cup in 1992, Murphy & Nye’s journey from sailmaking to outfitting is one of resilience, adaptation, and craftsmanship. Being able to witness that firsthand on the water was a pretty surreal experience.
Every garment wasn’t just a product – it was a testament. To heritage, to function, to design. To principles set out in a small loft by Lake Michigan.
Murphy & Nye’s FW25 Collection is available to purchase from Murphy & Nye
