Long Wharf Supply Co converting discarded oyster shells into sweaters

Michael Lamagna founded Long Wharf Supply Co. as a means of melding ocean sustainability and fashion.

Founded in 2016, Long Wharf Supply Co. started out by selling maritime-themed leather goods and accessories. In 2020, the Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.-based company launched its SeaWell collection with a unique hook - sweaters made from discarded oyster shells and recycled water bottles.

The sweaters are composed of 50 percent recycled materials, 40 percent plant-based viscose and nylon blend, and 10 percent lambswool. The oyster shells are ground up and reduced to a super-fine powder and then melted together with the recycled plastic via a laser that pulls the materials together to create a weavable filament.

“[The] oyster shells [are reduced] to a super-fine dust … through an extrusion process,” Lamagna said. “At that point, basically the laser melts them together and happens to pull a recycled filament out the other end.”

Lamagna chose to work with those unconventional materials in order to make his products more sustainable. To augment that mission, the company also donates a portion of its proceeds to efforts to rebuild oyster habitat in the United States.

“Through our charitable partnerships, every sweater sold directly reseeds coastal oyster reefs. To date, we've helped reseed over three million oysters, which naturally filter 150 million gallons of seawater every day,” the company said. 

In 2021, Lamagna got a break when he was asked to appear on Shark Tank, a television show that seeks to match entrepreneurs with investors. In his appearance on the show, Lamagna asked for a USD 375,000 (EUR 342,000) investment in exchange for 15 percent equity in the company. He received several offers, but it all were lower than he wanted, and he turned them down.

“We never thought we would air, or get on the show. We were like, ‘Let’s have some fun with this, go through the process,’ and I think it ended up working out in our favor,” Lamagna said. 

According to Shark Tank recap, Long Wharf Supply Co. now has an estimated valuation of USD 3 million (EUR 2.7 million).

Lamagna said he believes his company has found a sweet spot in the market by offering a fun, wearable product that is good for the ocean.

“Growing up working fishing boats, kicking around the docks with our friends, actually being on the water … I felt there was a lack of an authentic voice out there and an authentic brand that told everyday Seaport stories. Those are the communities that I’m from, and I care about most,” Lamagna said on the Seaze podcast. “The first reason I started the brand was looking at lifestyle brands in our space, especially along the East Coast, we all grew up with very specific brands that are big multinational corporations these days, and I didn’t relate to any of them.”

Photo courtesy of Long Wharf Supply Co/Facebook