My husband owns a Melanzana. It’s a limited-edition merino-wool hoodie, made only in the Colorado mountains. Melanzana is hyper-focused on crafting local, high quality clothing that lasts, so much so that having a “melly” has become a cult classic among outdoor enthusiasts. Whenever he wears it in public, random people shout at him from across parking lots.
This is the dream of Miles Dittmar. Not to own a melly (I bet he already has one). The 27-year-old founder and owner of Greenville-based apparel brand Beaten Path Co. has his sights set on creating pieces of clothing that connect. And not just with nature, though that’s certainly the Beaten Path Co. ethos. Dittmar wants to create a clothing brand that connects people with each other.
I catch Dittmar just after his return from Yosemite National Park, where he’s been shooting film for Beaten Path Co.’s summer collection. While it’s tempting to loop him in with the adventure junkie type, Dittmar is insistent that he’s forging a different path, one that’s accessible to all nature lovers.
“We’re not, we’re not crazy climbers. We’re not Patagonia,” Miles says. “We’re more of a vintage kind of L.L. Bean and Life is Good. The whole mission is to get a human outside, no matter what it is—whether it’s gardening or a walk or backpacking.”
The path less traveled
He’s doing it through nostalgic branding (the logo gives 1970s vibes and products are shot with that decade’s Super 8 mm film) and iconic, durable clothing. While they haven’t hit the 100-percent-organic goal yet, Beaten Path Co. uses natural fabrics as much as financially possible, mostly organic cotton and wool, and even recycled polyester in some of their shorts. Fish sweaters, turtlenecks, socks, shorts, beanies; it’s all there.
But it’s always been more than just clothing for Dittmar. Spurring from his own experience with mental health crises in his family, he launched Smile Hard, a phrase he promoted on social media and printed on hats and sweatshirts to encourage joy and normalize conversations around mental health.
“People find so much value in it,” he says. “I’ve had a good couple thousand letters over the last 10 years, but maybe like 10 of them . . . they talk about even just seeing a piece of content possibly saved them from doing something harmful or exploring the idea of doing something harmful,” Miles says. “It acts as a simple message that hopefully, hopefully can give a domino effect of positivity.”
Smile Hard now falls under Be the Change, the community-focused side of Beaten Path Co. that focuses on local efforts like Reedy River cleanups. I can’t help but wonder how he manages it all, especially with 100 percent of Be the Change profits benefitting The Nature Conservancy and the National Alliance on Mental Illness. The answer lies in Dittmar’s entrepreneurial spirit, a drive he’s had since childhood. From lemonade stands and knitted beanies to Snapchat contracts and mixed-media production, Dittmar has made it work, often on his own dime.
Beaten Path Co.’s first retail space opened in Sans Souci in December 2025 with plans for a Charleston location and a nonprofit in the lineup. Miles wants to keep it small, sustainable, and community-focused. Which begs the question: is Beaten Path Co. on its way to Melanzana status? Perhaps. But in a world littered with fast fashion and anxiety-fueled algorithms, Beaten Path Co. feels like a refreshing source of quality, light, and positivity. I’d go off the beaten path to find that.
Beaten Path Co., 2901 Old Buncombe Road, Greenville. beatenpathco.com
