Alpine Sea Co

Small American brand that makes everything in-house, bags, pouches, outdoor accessories. No mass production, no outsourcing. Versatile and durable gear for people who move.

Alpine Sea Co is Robert and Kristin Morano, a couple of designers who cut their teeth at Rip Curl, Vans and DaKine before walking away in 2020. When DaKine was acquired and COVID shut everything down, they faced the classic choice: find another corporate gig or start their own brand. They chose door number two.

Hood River, Oregon is their base. A town of 8,000 wedged between Mount Hood and the Columbia River Gorge, where kitesurfing and skiing coexist 30 minutes apart. The name "Alpine Sea" comes from exactly that: mountain and ocean in the same zip code. Their studio-retail space at 311 Oak Street opened in summer 2021.

The team is four people. Kristin and Robert on design, Reynaldo on sewing (20+ years, former DaKine colleague), and Yolanda. Everything is made in the Hood River workshop. No outsourcing, no offshore production. Each bag passes through the hands of someone who designed it.

What sets Alpine Sea Co apart from dozens of "artisanal" DTC brands is the reverse trajectory. Most DTC founders start without experience and learn on the job. The Moranos spent 25 years in the industry first, then returned to the micro-workshop. They know what industrial production costs, and they chose not to go back.