Despite earning his master’s degree in management, the corporate lifestyle was never one that Doug Faude wanted to live. 

Raised in the woods of Wisconsin, Faude said he’d always had a passion for the outdoors. That pull took him to Colorado, where he discovered his love of fly fishing, and eventually took him to North Idaho where he founded Molehill Mountain Equipment and most recently Cognito Brands.   

“The concept was that we would take fishing artwork. It's based on fly fishing and put prints on garments that are sun protective offer some additional value to the customer,” Faude said. “It's an extension of my love of the outdoors.” 

Cognito Brands is made up of an ever-expanding product line of active wear decorated in artwork. First came Fincognito, harnessing Faude’s passion for fly fishing to create one-of-a-kind hoodies, gloves, pants and neck gaiters all covered in artwork based on the hobby made by artists from Idaho and Montana. 

“For some reason, fly fishing and art go together, and even literature,” Faude said. “This enabled me to conceive of Fincognito as something completely different and marrying the beauty of artwork with a functional garment.” 

Drawing on the inspiration from the area around him, Mountaincognito was next, taking the same formula and applying it to the Mountains region. The third and final brand is Oceancognito, applying artwork and photography from the ocean to the brand’s clothing.  

Faude said he came up with the idea of bringing artwork to active clothing when he heard about the sublimation printing process, one that uses heat to turn dyes into gas, allowing for any image to become wearable. When he approached one of the top fly-fishing artists in the world, AD Maddox, with the idea she loved it. 

“I went to some of the best artists in the industry, and my very first artist, from my very first phone call, is with me to this day,” Faude said of Maddox. “She has been a huge encouragement. And says from day one was, ‘Doug, let's do this.’ That was huge for our company, in that we had immediate legitimacy on the art side of things.” 

Faude fell in love with fly fishing in his 20s when he picked it up during his time in Colorado. He said he was self-taught, and the continual learning process is one of the reasons his passion persists. 

When he was developing Cognito Brands, Faude said he was nearly 20 years into his experience in the outdoor businesses industry. He said in his time he found that 90% of business is similar, and it’s the other 10% that keeps him going. 

“I've always wanted to be in a company that allowed me to pursue my passions at the same time of chasing a buck. When I saw others doing it successfully, I thought, why not me?” Faude said. “My choice to be in the fly fishing industry or the ski and snowboard industry is just talking about the extra 10% that brings joy to me and interests me and keeps me invigorated.” 

All the products are designed and managed in Sandpoint after being manufactured in China. Faude said an issue he often runs into is falling in love with his prints, which makes it difficult to manage his inventory for his retail and wholesale endeavors. 

Faude said he is consistently working on improving the product line and that it will be expanding into a heavyweight garment soon. Additionally, Faude said the company is always searching for ways to horizontally stretch its reach from a line of pickleball-based wear to even an equestrian line.  

One area Faude said he is hoping to expand into is NFL licensed merchandise with his VINFL line, which is currently testing with a picture of the 1921 Green Bay Packers, Faude’s favorite NFL team.  

While Faude said he’s found ways to mitigate risk and keep his company moving forward, other small businesses in the Sandpoint Downtown haven’t had the same success. Faude asked residents and visitors to shop local to continue to allow companies like his to continue. 

“The downtown area has been hit relatively hard by, the economy, tariffs, and Canadians not coming down," Faude said. “I guess it would be a plea to buy local to keep cool companies, like mine and other ones around here, uniquely Idaho thriving.”