It all started in a ski lodge in Kaslo, British Columbia, back in 2013. In between powder days we spent our evenings with good friends discussing the fact that the outdoor business, in many ways, is a dinosaur. Why? Because today it takes almost two years for any new product to make it from idea to retail.

It’s an exhausting, expensive, often counterproductive process comprising budget and sales meetings, trade shows, samples, more sales meetings and even more trade shows. The process takes “outdoor” out of the outdoor business. More often than not, truly great, innovative, high-quality products are cancelled along the way: they don’t find a slot in price-segmentation strategies; they’re deemed commercially unviable; or found to be just too damn expensive. What’s worse is that this cumbersome system consequently drives down production costs in low-wage countries while pushing up consumer prices at the other end. Those few brands who do strive to get by on innovation and passion struggle with negotiating minimum quantities, poor capital liquidity, low margins, and chain-store mentalities. And don’t get us started on disposable low-quality items, mass production, gigantic warehouses, transports, clearance sales and outlets...

At Stellar Equipment, we want to change the way high-performance outerwear is developed, produced and distributed. We also want to introduce a new approach to sustainability in the entire production chain — from design and materials to versatility. 

All our products are designed to be durable and to excel in a wide range of outdoor activities. So before even starting on a design we consider systems, layering and resource utilization. In production, sustainability is prioritized in all aspects.

To start, we use only the best materials available and work with the finest factories we can find, because we truly believe that the smartest thing for both yourself and the environment is to buy less, but buy better.
Next, distribution takes place in an unbroken chain, directly from us to you — without expensive intermediaries. We’re cutting costs, not corners, and in doing so we can produce amazing products and sell them at a fantastic price while actually paying our factories better.

Above all, this gives us the possibility to interact and work directly with our customers, people who are actually out there using our products, giving feedback, being part of their evolution. This wasn’t possible 20 or even 10 years ago. Now it is.

Technology, digitization, and out-of-the-box thinking have revolutionized everything from how you listen to music to how you grab a taxi. Now it’s time for the outdoor clothing business to make the same fundamental changes.