Kickstarter for women’s plus-size outdoor apparel raises K from freeamfva's blog

Kickstarter for women’s plus-size outdoor apparel raises $50K

Raquel Vélez had never been an outdoorsy kid growing up. She said she was more likely to be found “with my nose stuck in a book.”The problem, though, was that as a size 16, Vélez had trouble finding the right gear. Most outdoor apparel brands, such as Columbia and Patagonia, offer a very limited selection of ski pants sizes ranging from 12 to 22 for plus-size women.Get more news about plus size womens clothing,you can vist 5xsize.com!

But the average weight of women over 20 is 170 pounds in the U.S, according to a 2018 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and 68 percent of American women wear a size 14 or larger, market research firm Plunkett Research estimated in 2016.

“I learned how to ski in sweatpants under rain pants and a hoodie under a coat because that’s what I had,” Vélez said. “But when I was ready to upgrade, nothing fit.”

Around the same time she was learning to ski, the Denver resident also learned to sew. She said she was tired of buying jeans that never fit, and attended a pattern-making school to learn how to make her own.

During her time there in 2018, she took a course on the history of fashion and brand development. She was assigned to create a clothing brand with an eight-piece apparel line. That’s when she came up with the idea for Alpine Parrot, an outdoor apparel company for plus-size women.

“Outdoor brands don’t show people of size in any of their advertising. So, it makes you think, ‘Oh, I’m just the weirdo who likes to ski and doesn’t fit into anything,’” Vélez said. “And this creates a whole chicken before the egg problem where because people don’t see plus-size people being represented in the industry, they don’t think they exist.”But in my research, I found so many communities of people online who might be bigger but love going outdoors, whether for skiing, white water rafting, hiking or fishing, and can’t find any gear that fits them. So, I knew there was this untapped market.”

Last month, she launched Alpine Parrot’s first product, a pair of plus-size women’s hiking pants called Ponderosa Pants, through a Kickstarter campaign. In the first three hours, she reached her $10,000 goal and doubled it in eight hours. As of Tuesday, she has raised $52,139 from 429 backers. In the next two days of the campaign, she hopes to hit $60,000.

“I wanted to use Kickstarter to send a message to the outdoor industry in a public way, since they often neglect people of size and color, and show big name brands that customers like me do exist,” Vélez said. “And I think our message has been sent loud and clear, so it will be interesting to see how brands respond. I’m starting where other people are just trying to catch up.”

The Ponderosa Pants, which retail for $139 on Alpine Parrot’s website, range from size 14 to size 24 and come in sage green and slate gray. They are made with quick-drying, abrasion-resistant UPF-40 fabric and feature a built-in belt, five pockets, an adjustable cuff to convert them into capris and a carabiner loop.

“Although I had initially wanted to make ski pants, I decided to first launch hiking pants because the ski industry is super tiny compared to the general outdoors industry,” Vélez said.

The Ponderosa Pants also come in two fit styles, the “Mountain fit” and the “River fit.” The Mountain fit is best for bodies with a smaller waist than hips, while the River fit is best for those with similar waist and hip measurements, she said.