For Immediate Release Contact: Todd Gillman
Phone: (206) 300-0131
Email: toddgillman@coalheadwear.com
Coal Headwear and Swift Industries collaborate to produce dreamy collection of adventure-ready bike accessories and headwear featuring the artwork of Chris Mcnally
The Headlands Collection set to launch at Outdoor Retailer video premiere party
Seattle, WASH. (June 1, 2019) -- Seattle’s Swift Industries makes best-in-class accessories for bike commuting and cycle touring, but as founder Martina Brimmer tells it, “We like to think of ourselves as, not bag makers, but adventure makers.” Adventure, bikes, and the Emerald City are the common threads connecting Swift to their cross-town neighbors, Coal Headwear, whose vision for designing high-quality, beautifully functional headwear has redefined the category in Snow and Outdoor since 2002. The two brands made fast friends at last summer’s Swift Campout, and quickly began laying the groundwork for a collaboration.
The first challenge facing two established brands in a collab like this is in envisioning a way to create a truly unique product collection that’s greater than the sum of its parts. This is where San Francisco-based artist, Chris McNally, comes in. Chris is a veteran cyclist with deep roots in the industry as a prolific creative, producing beautifully witty illustration and design in a style all his own. We tapped into Chris’s sense of adventure and local knowledge, empowering him to dream up a multi-day adventure route starting and ending at his studio space in the Mission Neighborhood of San Francisco, and then invited a cast of characters to join us for the ride. The ride would inform the art, and the art would be patterned on materials used throughout what would become The Headlands Collection.
The themes we wanted to explore on our Bay Area tour were all about creating authentic close-to-home adventures that stem from the freedom that bikes offer; about uncovering the hidden treasures and secret spots at the interface of the built and natural environments, where urban bleeds into rural, and rural into wilderness; about slowing the pace and making space for inspiration and creativity; and about the importance of building community one pedal stroke--and one brush stroke--at a time!
Coal and Swift have teamed up with EVO and New Belgium Brewing to introduce the Headlands Collection at a launch party, video premiere, and art and photo exhibit at EVO’s Denver location on Tuesday, June 18th, during the Outdoor Retailer Summer Market. Riders and the crews from Coal and Swift will be in attendance and the event will serve as a benefit fundraiser for nonprofit partner WTF Bikexplorers. Event time: 6:00PM - 9:00PM.
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