Who are we?
We are two brothers from South Africa, born and raised in KwaZulu Natal. Luke (23) and I (Simon – 20) are both passionate outdoors people and have been brought up living outside. Luke has qualified with B.Hons in Investments from the University of Stellenbosch and is currently working at Investec. I am in my third year of Mechanical Engineering in Stellenbosch as well.
So what is our idea and why is it unique?
We both love riding mountain bikes and I am an avid trail runner as well. Our idea is one born from necessity. We have both battled to find reasonably priced clothing that not only feels comfortable but looks nice as well. The kind of thing you can wear into a coffee shop after hopping off the bike and you fit right in.
We were both in the process of trying to find some clothes to our liking that wouldn’t hurt our (student) budget too badly and when we realised that the other one was also doing it, it struck us that there is huge opportunity for this type of brand.
And so, inline with our fixation with mountains, Westpeak was born; a premium functional clothing brand.
Why we need you!
Being two students, the major obstacle to overcome in the early stages of a business is the initial capital required to make that first order and get the wheels rolling (so to speak!).
We have decided for our first collection of clothes we are going with the bare necessities:
– Mountain bike baggies.
– A riding shirt which will be breathable, loose fitting, comfortable material and it will look cool! Initially, there will only be one option available, but we plan on expanding to more later on.
The details
We have decided on an approach that will allow us to appeal to two of the major target markets in our category, both conservative and outgoing. We are initially going to have two design ‘lines’. One line will have very understated design elements and the other will have more funky aspects to it. These themes will continue throughout the two products to create continuity within the brand.
As we expand we expect the number of lines and products to as well. We are planning on getting some woman-specific clothing into our range and including other products like a functional waterproof jacket, windbreaker, mountain bike gloves, socks and more!
Our current target market is South Africa but if enough interest is expressed we are not opposed to expanding our horizons.
Where are we at?
The journey up until now has been a long one, with lots of lessons learnt along the way.
The first step was orientating ourselves along the same path and ensuring we both had the same goals and aspirations for the company.
We then focused on a few logistical issues and have secured a closed corporation under the name Westpeak, which is co-owned by Luke and I. Bank accounts have been set up, tax numbers applied for, its all in place.
The next step was to start approaching possible suppliers with the final products in mind. After a long road to get here, we are excited to be at the stage where we have secured a local manufacturer, refined our designs through many, many samples and are putting the finishing touches together. Everything is ready and waiting and we are raring to go!
Why back us?
We both have 100% confidence in ourselves and our ability and we want you to as well. We know our idea is going to work with absolute certainty. We have done small sample runs on one of our prospective products (baggies) and within a few hours (no jokes!) our stock was gone. We have been customers in this market for years and know what works and what doesn’t. We can’t wait to get going, we know you are going to love it.
PS: We’ve got some images and a video of one of our final pre-production samples, if you would like to see email us at admin@westpeak.co.za