Knotty Tie Co. was founded by two college friends with little more than a desire to help refugees and an Ikea sewing machine - learning to sew from motherly advice and youtube tutorials as they began tackling how to make neckties and make them meaningful again.
Our co-founders launched a scrappy Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign to develop customization technology to make ties personal and the internet responds with overwhelming support quadrupling initial campaign expectations.
The company defines its purpose as a social mission to create dignified skills-based employment for resettled refugees and is established with our first two refugee hires thanks to a hiring partnership with refugee resettlement agencies in Denver.
The company receives a vital loan, thanks to Colorado Enterprise Fund's support of veteran entrepreneurs, which allows for the launch of in-house textile printing, design of specialty fabrics ideal for neckties, bow ties and scarves.
We relocated out of the artist collective where we were bursting at the seams and into an ideal facility with twice the manufacturing space, a kitchen, air conditioning, and space for a retail store - all to allow for better staff working conditions alongside a mission aligned landlord in the Urban Land Conservancy.
We completed coding of our first major personalized technology interface and launched the long awaited configurator to enable users to customize patterns and products in 500+ colors in addition to popular bridal swatches, all without needing to wait or pay for designer support.
We financed specialized necktie manufacturing equipment to reduce operating costs and greatly improve product quality and speed of production after securing one of our largest ever orders comprised of 8,000+ ties, bow ties and scarves.
Nominated as a finalist for the Good Business Giveaway sponsored by FirstBank, Knotty Tie was voted the winner of the $20k grand prize for Colorado and the company used the proceeds to scale impact by improving staff wages and funding dedicated skills development.
Covid-19 devastated our business and we nearly collapsed as the economy ceased functioning but our ingenuitive staff, with support of community foundations, repurposed our manufacturing to urgently produce more than 100,000 cloth masks for rural hospitals and consumers.
For the second year in a row, we only barely survived as Covid variants continued wreaking havoc on our business as demand for our products languished. We experienced some of our darkest days as a company when business conditions forced us to lay off multiple staff.
As normality and demand for our products began to return we were able to rehire the staff we had tragically laid off the prior year and began the arduous process of rebuilding our team and our pre-pandemic business model.
After ten years of working to improve the lives of resettled refugees through dignified employment the company hit a major impact milestone having exceeded two million dollars in wages paid to refugees staff since inception and even more impact through benefits, training, immersion and skills development.
Our technology for custom design and customization was completely rebuilt to allow for the unique customer design experience we always imagined was possible featuring photorealistic proof imagery and more intuitive recoloring functionality across products.
our co-founder developed a passion for serving the refugee community after six years of military service spanning the US, Africa, Europe and the Middle East
approximately 30% of the company's ownership is dedicated for employee stock options because employees are critical stakeholders in the company's success
our employment mission has been graciously supported by Untours Foundation, Kenneth King Foundation, AJL Foundation and Colorado Health Foundation
from the archives
healthcare is an unaffordable necessity so we subsidize as least 50% of insurance premiums for all full-time employees with no waiting period after hiring
25+ days of paid time off regardless of position with 6 weeks parental leave for births and up to 2 weeks for bereavement in mourning
saving for retirement is a luxury many cannot afford but desperately need so we offer 50% matching 401k contributions for all employees with no vesting
Prominent local and national leaders, among them Madam Secretary Hillary Clinton Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, have visited to tour our social enterprise and to raise awareness for our work. We are grateful for their support and attention to our mission!
Manufacturing in the USA allows quick customization with orders shipping in as fast as 7 days from order. Learn about our standard and expedite turnaround times and what you can expect based upon order size and shipping location.
We have no minimums so whether you want a full production sample to review prior to placing a large order, need only one product for now or want to order several different designs, go for it! Learn more about products and pricing at our FAQ.
You can easily start a custom design in just a few minutes and we'll work quickly to create a design in a business day or less, so long as we have the color and design assets needed. Request swatches to verify designs or ask for quick revisions to meet your design objectives.
Hundreds of patterns have completely customizable colors so you can match to a dress, suit, palette or just make a rad one-of-a-kind design you won't see anywhere else. Remember that colors on screen are different than print and if you need exact colors, please verify with the ColorMatch Chart.
Connect the knots with helpful tips and discounts plus new product and pattern releases.
© 2025, Knotty Tie Co.
