Lafe James is a graphic designer by trade, but a few years ago he decided he needed a hobby. “I was looking to create something with my hands—something not digital,” he says. He ended up creating a business.

The result of those off-time experimentations is 1923 Trading Co. James started selling wood prints—photos and images transferred onto wood—and more recently he’s expanded into apparel, including sunglasses and T-shirts.

The Naples native focuses on Florida themes: His wood prints, for example, feature old maps or other Floridian imagery to emphasize the local connection.

“I really wanted to speak to the demographic,” he says.

He first read about wood prints online, finding a method in which images are printed out on paper then transferred to the wood. He then washes and treats the wood, hand-carves the frame and adds embellishments in a brass or gold color. The overall look gives the result a timeless or vintage feel—hence the 1923 Trading Co. name for the business.

He first started selling at the monthly Art Walk in Fort Myers; the first works were actually printed on plywood left over from his boarded-up home on the Cape after Hurricane Irma in 2017. Before the event, he thought he would spend most of the night just chit-chatting. Instead, he sold everything. He continued to sell at the Art Walk and started branching out into vintage markets elsewhere in the state. Eventually, a representative from The Franklin Shops in Fort Myers spotted his work at a Cape Coral art fair and asked if he wanted to show in the store; it’s now one of his top places for sales.

During the pandemic James started his clothing and sunglasses line, and he hopes to build that side of this business. He still has a day job as a designer, but he sees a bright future. “At first it was just a creative release,” he says, “but as I started to build it, I thought this could eventually be a full-time business.”