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Ted De Innocentis, co-founder of 1620 Workwear in Amesbury, Massachusetts, knows a thing or two about the textile and apparel business.

Before De Innocentis and his buddy, co-founder Josh Walker, founded 1620 Workwear, De Innocentis spent five years in China manufacturing high-end activewear and apparel.

"It all starts with the fabric," De Innocentis said. "The best fabric makes the best workwear."

When the two launched their own product six years ago, De Innocentis knew they wanted to make fashion-forward clothing for the job site, and it had to be made out of the best materials available.

One example is a fabric used in the shoulder pads of an on-field NFL jersey.

"So, it's designed for high impact abrasion resistant and to be washed a bunch of times," De Innocentis said.

Walker and De Innocentis said that this is not your father's workwear.

"Our goal at 1620 is to create a fresh brand that young guys coming into the trades can identify with," Walker said.

Championing the labor market is only one of the goals at 1620.

"We always wanted to make as much as much stuff as we could in Massachusetts," Walker said. "Some products in our line that are 100% made in Massachusetts. The fabric is milled here. The clothing is stitched and put together here and we're super proud of that because there's amazing heritage of clothing manufacturing in Massachusetts."

Using best-in-class fabrics does come at a price, but according to De Innocentis and Walker, they're experiencing constant growth with a 60% repeat customer rate. They see that as the framework for building a successful business moving forward.

"We're still a very small company that's not known in a lot of places," Walker said. "I'm sure a lot of people seeing this show have never heard of us, but it's exciting to just continue on the growth path and work hard at it."

1620 Workwear is a direct-to-consumer company, which means people won't find them in a clothing store. That said they do have a showroom in Amesbury where people can go to try items on for size. They just ask that people call first to set up a time to visit.

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