Clothing company solves name dispute; meet Winnipeg’s VOAK By: Danton Unger Posted: 7:00 PM CST Monday, Dec. 10, 2018 Last Modified: 5:30 PM CST Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2018 Updates

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A popular Winnipeg clothing company has risen from the ashes of legal disputes and is back with a new name and look.

VOAK sportswear officially released its inaugural collection of hoodies, T-shirts, hats and toques early last week. The premium clothing company was established in the spring.

“VOAK was born initially out of what I wanted from a brand, my hope is that people will relate and people will be interested in a similar aesthetic and direction that I want to go,” said VOAK owner and creator Chris Watchorn, 33. “We hit the ground running.”

“… if you see a Jets player wearing something, you take a little more notice than seeing someone like myself walking around.”

Though Watchorn would not discuss sales numbers, he said the first week far exceeded his expectations, with online sales coming in from outside Manitoba and Canada.

While the name VOAK may not be familiar with the city, many Winnipeggers know the brand well by its predecessor: Oak + Oar.

The former sportswear and cabin-life brand started as a hobby for Watchorn in 2012 but gained popularity in the city when Winnipeg Jets captain Blake Wheeler took a liking to the brand and agreed to model its clothing.

“We had lots of momentum at the time,” said Watchorn. “In the city of Winnipeg, if you see a Jets player wearing something, you take a little more notice than seeing someone like myself walking around.”

Oak + Oar earned a lucrative customer base both online and in its brick-and-mortar store at Johnston Terminal at The Forks. In 2017, the company was selling clothing and accessories featuring some of the city’s most popular sports teams, including the Jets, the Blue Bombers and the Goldeyes.

“For us, the reason we grew as Oak + Oar was we were building a sense of community, people felt a part of what we were doing” Watchorn said, adding that he would make a point of interacting personally with store customers.

In January the clothing brand announced it had been locked in a trademark dispute with Vancouver clothing company OAK + FORT for the past few years.

Opting to avoid a lengthy and costly legal battle, Watchorn decided to shut down. In Oak + Oar’s last social media posts, Watchorn promised customers a new brand would be coming.

“In the end it just made sense to move on and count Oak + Oar as what it was supposed to be initially — a learning project and a stepping stone to something different, something bigger, ” he said.

Just days after closing Oak + Oar, Watchorn said he began developing VOAK.

The new name is a tribute to the former company, Watchorn said. “V” is the roman numeral for five, representing the number of years Oak + Oar operated. “OAK” stems from the original name.

Watchorn said the trademark dispute gave him the opportunity to re-evaluate his business and learn from his mistakes. This time around, Watchorn said he plans on doing somethings differently — properly trademarking the name, for starters.

The company has already made some positive impressions inside the city’s sports community, getting a big assist on the play from Jets centre Adam Lowry, who is modelling the minimalistic sportswear clothing line.

“(Lowry) is one of those guys that maybe flies under the radar a little bit, he comes to work and works hard and grinds it out,” said Watchorn. “It’s a good visual representation of us, we’re going to grind it out and probably fly under the radar a little bit but hopefully get to the point where we’re rolling with some of the big brands.”

The VOAK collection will be available in-person beginning at 11 a.m. Thursday during a three-day pop-up sale at 300 Ross Ave.

danton.unger@freepress.mb.ca