(AppWEAR Smart Clothing | Photos Courtesy of Appwear)
What happens when a group of friends take a weekend trip to the mountains only to discover that it was far too cold to be outside for longer than 30 minutes even with their heavy winter clothing? First they go on an all-out quest to find outdoor gear that not only keeps the body warm and can be manually regulated but also water proof and affordable. Only finding a few garments that met their standards, the group knew they could do better and thus, AppWEAR was formed.
AppWEAR is a ‘smart clothing line’ that has successfully connected a phone app with a jacket and a vest, allowing the user to control their personal climate with their smartphone or from a gummy button manually. The smart garments deliver comfort, warmth and safety throughout the winter months and beyond.
Co-founders, Alan Miles, Justin Brock and Mary Meirow are excited to showcase their one of a kind product to the general public in a Kickstarter campaign that begins on March 26.
“We marry a high quality textile and technology in a stronger way to solve a problem we kept hearing about from ourselves and so many other people that like to enjoy the outdoors or what we call the outdoor enthusiast because being cold sucks,” says Miles.
Miles has a very close connection with the city of Bend. His step father worked for Brooks-Scanlon, feeding sawdust to the fire for the generators in the building where REI now sits. Growing up in the outdoors of Central Oregon, Miles flourished in winter activities. He has a background in the professional sports industry as well as several tech start-up companies.
Brock lives in Vancouver, Washington and loves the northwest outdoor lifestyle of mountains, waterfalls and the ocean. With a background in fashion design and business, Brock serves as the Chief Garment Design and Sourcing Officer.
Being extremely passionate about the outdoors, both men were inspired to create a company that kept people outside doing what they love, wearing comfortable clothing that’s controlled by the sophisticated technology we use every day.
AppWEAR is all about specific design and comfort. The Warming Tracker Jacket comes in a dark navy and the Warming Tracker Vest comes in a Victoria blue. The Warming Tracker is designed to be the “go to” vest or jacket all year round.
AppWEAR Specs:
- Special features include custom “AW” zipper tabs pulls
- There’s an LED gummy button for Bluetooth and manual heat control
- AppWEAR optimized the heating elements to achieve 12 hours of heat on a low setting
- The AppWEAR rechargeable battery can charge a cellphone
- AppWEAR is the smallest apparel company partnered with RECCO out of Sweden. RECCO Rescue Reflectors are integrated into the AppWEAR Warming Tracker Jacket and Vest — great for added safety
- AppWEAR uses Bluetooth technology to wirelessly connect your cellphone to your Warming Tracker jacket or vest which allows temperature control of the garment
- The AppWEAR app has features such as geo-locating, visibility to others and hiking trail multi functions
The founders of AppWEAR have been in development for over three years and have been using several different types of social media platforms throughout. “[Social Media] has been a great way to connect with individuals and most advantageously partners interested in AppWEAR. The build up to our Kickstarter launch has gained tremendous interest with people across the U.S. and the world,” says Brock.
Crowd Funding
We are approaching Kickstarter a little different [than]most companies, as most startups create a prototype/concept without securing a supply chain. We have connected and partnered with a manufacturers and tech groups for our garments and technical features. We have beta tested this product for about two years. The AppWEAR team has designed and developed the AppWEAR app from the ground up,” says Brock.
The Kickstarter campaign dates are March 26 through April 24, 2019. The hope is to surpass the initial $10,000 goal.
Future Plans
- AppWEAR plans to release cooling garments for summer of 2019
- Plans to offer heated gloves and socks controlled by Bluetooth in September/October 2019
- Supply up to a dozen niche boutique outdoor retailers winter 2019/20
- A U.S. Winter Product Tour in 2019/20 will be guided by the Chief of Comfort, JD Platt
