“68% of American women wear sizes 14 and up, and less than 20% of outdoor apparel is made in plus sizes. How do you expect 20% of the offerings to appeal to 68% of the people?” asks Raquel Vélez, founder and CEO of Alpine Parrot, an outdoor apparel company focused on creating gear and apparel for plus-sized people and people of color.

In recent years, there has been a massive focus in creating a more accepting community within the outdoor space, breaking down the barriers of access and encouraging plus-sized people to recreate in the outdoors in a loving and welcoming way. While attending Big Gear Show in Denver, Colorado, and GoPro Mountain Games in Vail, Colorado this year, I was introduced to an array of brilliant women who were making awave in the plus-sized sector of outdoor gear, apparel and endurance sports.

The women of Thicket, Arwen Turner and Kara Hardman, were the first I was lucky enough to meet. They were at Big Gear Show as part ofthe Moosejaw Accelerator program, with prototypes of their plus-sized BRECKEN hiking pants. These pants are purely genius — a yoga pant waistband with four-way-stretch legs, fully complete with a reinforced seat and thighs.

Hardman is a member of the Curvy Kili Crew, a group of 20 plus-sized women who hiked Mount Kilimanjaro on International Women’s Day in 2019. Turner was inspired by the Curvy Kili Crew while on her own journey as a plus-sized outdoor enthusiast and, by chance, met Hardman at an Unlikely Hikers event before her Kilimanjaro expedition. After bonding over the massive need (and want) for both plus-sized apparel and gear, the seeds of Thicket were planted. Turner and Hardman are the perfect balance of creatives and realists. Staying true to that, they wanted to survey the plus-sized community to gauge their interest in something like this before starting the business.

“We were able to push [a survey] out through influencers, and we had 2,000 responses in four weeks. The responses were all encouraging us to do this!” Turner excitedly shares, also mentioning the responses heavily requested apparel but hard goods, too. “It was really, really
evident that this was a market no one was filling. We wanted to see big, beautiful bodies getting out there and enjoying nature.”

Turner and Hardman never planned to be designers but are running with this now-dream that landed in their laps. Their goal with Thicket is to let plus-sized people know there is a place for them in the outdoors. Building a community first and a product second is at the core of
Thicket’s company values.

Photos courtesy of Alpine Parrot

Flashing back to our conversations at Big Gear Show this past June, when our meeting time was up and I wanted to learn more about the need for inclusivity of bigger bodies in the outdoor space, they gifted me the book A Beautiful Work In Progress by plus-sized ultramarathoner and professional athlete Mirna Valerio — who would speak at GoPro Mountain Games the following day — and walked me over to the Alpine Parrot booth (another plus-sized gear brand) owned by Raquel Vélez.

Vélez has a background in mechanical engineering and, being a plus-sized BIPOC woman herself, is dedicated to reformulating the manufacturing process around producing apparel for bigger bodies and making the outdoor space more inclusive as a whole.

“If you’re starting with a size eight and going to a size 10 or 12, there usually isn’t a lot of distortion. But, if you start with a size eight and go to a size 18, or even a size 28, there is massive distortion,” Vélez explains. This is because traditional apparel is based off of a fit model that is usually size six to eight. “The algorithms aren’t taking into account that just because the tummy gets larger, [it] doesn’t mean the ankle gets larger at the same rate,” she adds. And, she is determined to change that.

“We see the demographics are changing; we know that more people are going outside that don’t fit the mold of what used to be considered outdoorsy. Change [in outdoor apparel] is required,” Vélez explains. “Here in the U.S., we have every culture and every body from every genetic makeup, and somehow, we are still only focusing on a subset of people and assuming that works for everyone.”

Author, ultramarathoner, professional athlete and influencer Mirna Valerio is making a splash on social media with well-known brands such as Lululemon, L.L. Bean, Ford and many others to bring representation for BIPOC, plus-sized people to the forefront. Valerio is not only an impressive athlete herself, but with her position in the media space, she is able to show the masses that plus sized representation is important and should be both supported and celebrated, without pity.

“When you see a plus-sized person — whether on social media, print ad or a billboard — it makes [it] real. It makes it real for people who see themselves in you, but it also makes it real for other people and makes it more of the norm in advertising,” Valerio says. “Having people of different body sizes representing brands in a non-stigmatizing light is the way to go. Just make it normal!”

When asking Valerio about racism and how it relates to the anti-fat bias, she immediately recommended the book Fearing the Black Body — The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia by Dr. Sabrina Strings as a resource. In Dr. Strings’ book, she brings light to an incredibly eye-opening
narrative that has been present since times of the Renaissance. With examples of art, propaganda, magazines and scientific literature, Strings highlights how long racism, and the anti-fat bias that comes along with it, has been present in our culture, especially in relation to the idolization of the slender body.

After interviewing these marvelously impactful women, it was not only evident that they are here to make a change in the business realm, but that they also share a strong desire to lift up and highlight each other in the process — competitors or not. Never have I heard of a brand taking a media representative literally by the hand and bringing them over to meet their direct competitor at a trade show. When the women of Thicket did that for me, it was very clear that yes, they are brands to be taken seriously, but at the core, they are a group of people working together to pave the way for those within their community to succeed alongside them.

alpineparrot.com

Originally published in Winter + Spring 2023-24 issue of Well.

Thicket — The Brecken Pant

“Thicket strives to increase representation of larger-bodied folks in the outdoors by creating technical outdoor apparel in extended sizes and providing size-inclusive events.”

Alpine Parrot — Bristlecone Flannel and Ponderosa Pants

“Alpine Parrot makes technical outdoor apparel for sizes 14-30, focusing on the inclusion of our inherent diversity as humans who care about the planet.”

IMBŌDHI — Jumpsuits

“Our number one goal is to respect mother Earth and her occupants. And while we know our humble little company can only do so much, we also know small steps can lead to big change.”

Wondery Outdoors

“Being outside connects us to community, helps us grow, and gives us a reason to step away from life’s pressures. Everyone’s path to the outdoors looks different. It’s never too early or too late. We want to open eyes with open arms and show everyone: you belong out here.”