Cade Mangelson is the owner of Twigs Woodwear, a company that makes products that emphasize natural materials and good values. You may have seen their watches or sunglasses being worn around town, or possibly seen one of their booths at the local festivals and events they support. Mangelson is entrenched in Salt Lake City’s motorcycle scene and owns many bikes, including a custom Harley-Davidson and Salt City Builds custom Iron Track.
Every month, SLUG Style features a distinct and unique member of the community and asks them why they do what they do. Exploring more than just clothing, SLUG Style is an attempt to feature the people who give Salt Lake City flavor through personality and panache.
Click images for captions
“Twigs really started when I was a kid. My grandpa actually built an A-frame cabin out just the materials around him in Fairview,” says Mangelson. “We always went up there, and anytime I saw wood, it kind of reminded me of that: simple, no plumbing, barely any electricity, just kind of roughing it—these wood products and this feeling of nostalgia that ties you to it. When we started doing it, a lot of people caught on to that because they had those same ties somehow to hiking or camping. It really resonated here in Utah.” Photo: Tyson Call @clancycoop
“We feel like our edge over a lot of bigger corporations that do sunglasses and watches is that we’re people and we want people to be involved in what we do—and motorcycles is that,” says Mangelson. Photo: Tyson Call @clancycoop
“Motos in Moab was fun. The first year we had no idea what to expect, obviously. It was just a blast, and I’m continually impressed by Juan and Salt City Builds and all the people that are involved to make that a huge event,” says Mangelson. “We wanted to get involved, so we made this redwood watch, stamped Motos in Moab on it and then had Brett from Smuglabs label it too. It’s just a way of us showing our support an collaboration with that.” Photo: Tyson Call @clancycoop
“With the money that we have to spare, we help local companies,” says Mangelson. “We help build things like Motos in Moab, Salty Bike Revival—things that we’re interested in. Things where we feel like our money is being put towards good use.” Photo: Tyson Call @clancycoop
“We’ve done a lot of events, and lot of times you go to these trade shows and people kind of just snicker at you or whatever,” says Mangelson, “because we’re a little bit different or we’re not like the moms bringing stuff that they made to these things. But we took our stuff to Salty Bike Revival and we’ve never had so much support or as good of a return from a show. It was so cool because it was people that got what we were doing.” Photo: Tyson Call @clancycoop
“We’re all family. It’s my wife, my sister and my brother-in-law, and we’re really holding down the fort and have gone through a lot of very rapid growth with Twigs,” says Mangelson. “Eventually we all want to be doing that full time.” Photo: Tyson Call @clancycoop
“I mean, it’s probably more on the cool side to say you don’t care about what you wear when you’re riding. But you do,” says Mangelson. “For me, I like a mix of fashion and function. I want my boots to look good, but I want them to perform really well and protect me if I crash.” Photo: Tyson Call @clancycoop
“This motorcycle—I call it The King—has been through five variations in the last year,” says Mangelson. “I think with Utah changing, I like to have the bike that I ride change. It’s been through a raw steel color, it’s been through a copper tone and now, with this gold and black scheme. It’s just really kind of hit me of what it wants to be right now.” Photo: Tyson Call @clancycoop
Cade has been the proud owner of Salt City Builds’ famous Iron Track build for about a year and is now offering it up for sale. Photo: Tyson Call @clancycoop
“We want Twigs to get to the point where it’s what we do and we can employ some friends that we know are talented and have it be a seven- to 10-person team and just be doing that for a living—riding motorcycles and helping each other and helping local companies,” says Mangelson. “But, for me, when it gets past 30 to 50 employees, that’s when I’d probably walk away, because I don’t like having so many—I just like having quality people.” Photo: Tyson Call @clancycoop
Your donations allow us to share underrepresented stories for FREE!
