RARE Active launches in time for holidays
November 20, 2018
Do you skip your winter workout because it’s too cold outside when you’re running between home & the gym?
Then Patty Vanderburgh’s RARE Active athletic outerwear pants might be for you.
The patented design features legs that unzip all the way up, and a waistband that stretches so you can put them on and take them off easily, even over shoes and winter boots. Patty describes the outerwear pants as “a jacket for your legs.”
She officially launched RARE Active on Thursday, with a reveal party at fellow women-owned athletic company Up & Running in Centerville.
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“Patty was my customer, then my co-worker, and that’s when it slipped out that she was researching the pants,” Up and Running owner Susie Stein said. “I wouldn’t be selling them if I didn’t believe in them.”
Patty began her entrepreneurial journey about five years ago, on a cold January morning in Dayton, OH.
“I was headed to a bootcamp class. I put on my shirt, my shorts, my shoes, grabbed a jacket, ran out to the car, got in the car, and realized it was five degrees,” she recalled. “Do I run back inside, take my shoes off, struggle getting a pair of sweatpants over my shorts, put my shoes back on, run back to the car and drive to the bootcamp, or do I just go and freeze?”
She opted for the freezing drive over the hassle, and after the workout, she decided there had to be a better way.
There are currently two types of outerwear pants on the market, Patty said — a basic sweatpant, that is challenging to get on and off over shoes, and a tear-away pant, circa 1990.
“They’re cumbersome and not very cute,” she said. “My grandmother taught me to sew, so I just started playing.”
Her first run — manufactured right here in the U.S. — produced 280 pairs across five sizes, extra small to extra large, and three colors, black, grey and blue. The pants are a cross between a jogger and a legging. The Italian material is fleece-lined, moisture-wicking, antimicrobial, lightweight and pill resistant. They also feature a deep back pocket to hold a cellphone.
“I was kind of an overweight little kid,” Patty recalled. “Fitness is not only for your your body, it’s really for your head. With these pants, I want to encourage people to keep moving, especially in the winter. These you can put on, take off, and get to where you want to go, and prevent you from making excuses.”
In addition to getting you to and from your workout during winter months in the Midwest, the pants are great for hiking where it might be cold in the morning but warm in the afternoon, and traveling between destinations in different climates.
Patty also hopes to pursue potential military applications of the patented waistband design.
Want a pair? Order online at rareactive.co or try them on in person at Up & Running, located off Far Hills Avenue in Centerville.
