To complete his look, Barney Willemse needed an authentic American trucker hat.

But for 20-year-old Willemse — an insurance company worker by day and an aspiring country music artist by night — that wasn’t going to be easy. Willemse lives in the Netherlands and has never even been to the U.S., he told the Courier Journal.

Then, scrolling through Instagram one day, Willemse saw it: A hat of blue mesh and foam, and on the front, a square patch emblazoned with orange-hued mountains and the words: "New Frontier Outfitters." The hat was from Kentucky.

Founded by brothers Jared and Josh Ravenscraft in Morehead, Kentucky, New Frontier Outfitters is slowly building a cult following among enthusiasts of retro-outdoors wear and seekers of American blue-collar chic.

Avid hikers and skiers themselves, the Morehead natives told the Courier Journal they grew up feeling alienated by outdoors brands. The "big boys" of the industry — Patagonia and North Face — were focused on the American West, said Jared Ravenscraft, 26.

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But Eastern Kentucky, and Appalachia more generally, offers its own beauty, he said, along with a reminder of a basic love of the outdoors.

Out West, it seems everyone sports the most expensive equipment, whereas in, say, Kentucky’s Red River Gorge, it’s “simpler,” Ravenscraft said.

“There are really no brands in Appalachia … that we really felt like were speaking to us, saying the things we wanted to say,” he said.

The brothers decided to do something about it.

The summer after Josh Ravenscraft graduated from high school in 2016 and Jared Ravenscraft earned his bachelor’s degree from Morehead State University, the brothers worked as janitors in the local high school.

They wanted to scrape together just enough money to start with something small — hiking hats “for people to go out and adventure in,” Jared Ravenscraft said.

The first designs were inspired by retro ski badges as well as their father’s collection of '70s- and '80s-era trucker hats found stashed away in the back of a closet, they said.

That year, when an order for a hat came in, the brothers would hop in Jared Ravenscraft’s Jeep and personally deliver it to buyers, they recalled.

Brisk sales that Christmas season, especially after the opening of their online store, persuaded them to keep at it.

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Handwritten notes in shipments helped the brothers develop a bond with customers, said 38-year-old Matthew Hedgecoth, a fan of New Frontier Outfitters from Crossville, Tennessee.

“They’re kind of like a family,” Hedgecoth told the Courier Journal. “You’re kind of joining a tribe.”

Today, New Frontier Outfitters has a brick-and-mortar store in Morehead with outposts in Pagosa Springs, Colorado, and Cave Run Lake in Kentucky. The brothers say they regularly ship hats, shirts and other gear across the country and the world.

They’ve been helped in part by some informal celebrity endorsements.

Actor Channing Tatum visited their Morehead store in 2017 and was later seen wearing a New Frontier Outfitters hat in an Entertainment Tonight interview.

And just last month, country artist Tyler Booth wore a New Frontier Outfitters shirt featuring the brand’s “Journey On” slogan for a Waylon Jennings tribute performance in Nashville.

But perhaps the brand’s biggest coup has been their association with Grammy-nominated country group Midland, which shares a retro aesthetic with New Frontier Outfitters.

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Midland’s broad appeal has meant New Frontier Outfitters orders from faraway locales, including Sonora, Mexico, where Mike Zapata says he and his oldies band, Los Hijos de Frank, sport the Ravencrafts’ hats and other retro apparel he first spotted Midland wearing.

The brothers approached Midland after a show, said Luke Cutchen, who plays guitar for the band when on the road. The brothers’ earnestness reminded him of his days before Midland’s rise when he was working at a guitar shop in Texas, he told the Courier Journal.

“They’re two kids from Kentucky doing right,” said Cutchen. “It’s good. It’s inspiring.”

Reach reporter Alfred Miller at amiller@gannett.com or 502-582-7142. Follow him on Twitter @AlfredFMiller. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/subscribe.