meet the designers

we are excited to be launching this new feature. click below for a one-on-one video appointment with designers, Michael and Manel.

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our STORY

thesalting was conceived out of a shared bonding experience. we were craving newness, both as customers and creatives.


thesalting, llc was co-founded in 2018 by michael ward and michael smaldone, and manel garcia espejo joined in 2020 as co-owner.


a salting is a coastal piece of land that gets flooded with sea water. when the tide recedes, the land is gently coated in salt, making all appear worn, like it had been that way for thousands of years and millions of stories. this universal visual helped define the haunting and sensorial ethos of thesalting.


thesalting is a unisex brand that stands for craftsmanship, the raw and the refined. a deliberate embrace of a very new mentality: a simple and luxe investment. all produced in america.


our journey has been a rich and humbling experience. we have created a platform to share the stories of our partnerships, collaborators and our beautiful tribe.

michael ward and manel garcia espejo are two fashion industry veterans combining their creative years of learnings and experiences for some of the world's most iconic men's and women's houses. they bring an authentically holistic approach to design, combining their deep passion for craftsmanship and storytelling.