For Valentina Thompson and Madison Hilson, the benefits of spending time outdoors go far beyond exercise. Connecting with nature through movement has massive mental health benefits as well.
“Getting outside literally saves lives,” Hilson said in an interview with The Daily.
“When I have a coating of dirt on me, I just feel grounded,” Thompson added. “I feel like I accomplished something.”
The two met in high school, but reconnected as they launched retail careers working at Victoria’s Secret, Outdoor Voices, and Backcountry. Over the course of a decade, they felt that the kinds of outdoor gear marketed to women didn’t match the enthusiasm they had for being outside, and they started working toward the launch of their own brand, SENIQ (pronounced “scenic”). After a year of conceptualizing their first collection, they launched the Trail System in March, comprised of seven versatile styles built with thoughtful details, flattering fits, and lots of color.
So far, the brand is sold direct-to-consumer and at Plein Air, and this fall SENIQ dropped the collection in three new colorways. The collection and some savvy social marketing is already growing brand loyalty.
“During our fall newness launch we saw a 52% repeat customer rate,” Hilson said.
At Outdoor Retailer Summer in June, The Daily spent some time with SENIQ’s founders to find out more about what they think is missing in women’s gear, why their collection is special, and what their plans are for the future.
What’s your relationship to the outdoors?
Madison Hilson: I grew up hiking in Colorado. That’s where my love for hiking started. We both lived out in Salt Lake for a couple years when we were working for Backcountry. We were out on trail almost every day hiking, and it was the best way to get a mental reset. We love to hike. That’s probably our number one favorite outdoor activity.
Valentina Thompson: It is. It’s our form of therapy.
What did you feel like was missing from the market?
Valentina Thompson: A lot of things, but the biggest was product built for the modern outdoor woman. We’ve had extensive experience in the outdoor industry working for industry-leading brands, and there still was not a hike pant that we were excited to pull out of our drawer and get on trail in. We wanted to develop high-waist garments, shaped legs that aren’t just straight legs, making sure there’s a lot of function packed into the garment, but there’s also a trend element. And then color is like such a huge opportunity, too. We’re definitely not afraid of color and being bold on trail, and we’ve gotten such a great response to it.
SENIQ’s Trailmix Pant in Zen Garden. Photo courtesy of SENIQ.
And then outside of product, the other big opportunity was really encouraging women to prioritize their mental health by using the outdoors as a tool. So when we were living in Salt Lake, we would get out with girlfriends on trail after work, and we noticed that we were using outdoor movement for mental reset more than physical reset, and there wasn’t a brand speaking to that, or building experiences, or giving back to philanthropists who provide resources for mental health tools. So that was the other big opportunity, really shaping a brand that cared about the mind as well as the body.
Tell me more about the design process for this first collection.
Valentina Thompson: We were maniacal about every detail of these garments. Working on seven styles for a year is kind of crazy, right? People whip out hundreds of styles in months. We’re just a small team of three. We come to the table with a brief of what product we’re hoping to build, and then we sketch up some CADs and do a narrow-down process. We’ll sketch up about 40% more CADs than we’re hoping to end up buying into. Then we’ll source fabrics, and work with our vendor partner to develop a first sample. Our vendor is B Corp certified and helps produce for brands like Arc’teryx. Not only is the gear cute, but it’s great quality as well. And then we’ll get samples in, and we’ll start to dip fabrics in our color palettes. We’ll do many rounds of fitting, and then finalize a fit and send it to production.
What seasons will you focus on and where are you sold?
Madison Hilson: We’ll do winter and summer, a traditional outdoor cadence, with a few color drops in between. We’re selling online through our website, and then we have one wholesale partner for our launch season: Plein Air. And for next year, definitely branching out into wholesale. That’s a big strategy for us, as well as pop-ups.
Valentina Thompson: Our marketing is exclusively social. That’s been really successful and an easy way to find the women who we’re building gear for.
What are some of the highlights of the first collection?
Valentina Thompson: Our Dirtpop Trek Jacket is truly a poplin that you’re meant to wear on trail and get dirty. The sleeves snap off, so it evolves with you through your elevation as you gain and get lower and the temperature changes. The fabric is a beautiful DWR finish, so it’s water-resistant and abrasion-resistant. It’s four-way stretch. It’s breathable, wicking – it’s all of the things. And then there are also beautifully tailored elements that you don’t find in technical gear. It’s a piece that really is transitional from street to trail, which is another concept that we build into all of our garments. We really believe that our gear should not only be able to be worn on trail, but worn in your everyday life as well, and fit your uniform. So this has been a bestseller.
Madison Hilson: The Trailmix Shorts are A-line and loose-fitting. They’re chafe-proof. My biggest complaint of hiking is shorts are either super short or super long. I still want to be cute and I don’t want my legs to chafe. So we’ve got this nice four-and-a-half inch, high waist, super comfortable short with lots of pocketing options.
SENIQ’s Dirtpop Trek Jacket in black. Photo courtesy of SENIQ.
Valentina Thompson: All of our pockets have pockets in pockets. We believe in storage solutions. The Trailmix Pant has been our best seller, hands down. The fit is customizable with a double waist and it is the first non-straight leg hike pant on the market. It has a curved leg shape that is flattering on every body we put it on. It’s quite amazing. There’s also an adjustability element at the bottom for our short queens. You can’t really hem a technical garment. So that makes it a little easier. And then again, there are six pockets on this garment, so a pocket in every pocket, and zip-secure pockets as well as great some fashion cargo pocketing.
Is there a need for more gear to be designed for women by women?
Madison Hilson: We used to work at a big brand in the outdoor industry. I was a buyer, so I worked with about 50 brands, and typically what would happen is you would have a men’s style that then would be fit on a woman’s body, kind of shrunk to their size. But not generally intended to be worn by women from the start. There are more women’s brands popping up, but no one’s really done a leg shape like this before with the adjustable waistband.
Valentina Thompson: It’s crucial for fit, and when it fits better, it performs better. We really believe in building silhouettes that are made for the female form. And all of those details are built into our ski collection.
What’s to come this year?
Madison Hilson: We’ll have an expanded color range, and we also are introducing climb. Our designer, Georgia Newman, is a huge climber. She does pretty much every outdoor activity known to man, so she has an awesome add to the team. And so we’re doing a climb-compatible legging and halter top, so all the pockets can fit a harness and still have extra storage. And then we’re also doing a bouldering pant in nice, bright colors.
What have you learned about your customer so far?
Madison Hilson: The people we’re trying to target want their gear to perform on mountain, but they can still wear it out casually. We were at Outside Festival, and people would walk by our booth and say, “Oh, I just love pink, so I’m going to get the shorts.” Other girls were like, “Thank God, color to hike in, finally.”
This interview was edited and condensed for clarity. Kate Robertson can be reached at kate.robertson@emeraldx.com.
