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SheFly: Answer Nature's Call

A layerable line of outdoor pants for women that allows us to comfortably, safely, and easily relieve ourselves in the outdoors.

$54,824
pledged of$15,000 goal
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Project Description

Our Mission

SheFly's mission is to promote inclusivity, accessibility, and women's empowerment in the outdoors through innovative product design. SheFly is a layerable line of pants for women that allows us to comfortably, safely, and easily relieve ourselves in the outdoors, without exposing skin to the elements or other people. We are reclaiming the pant[riarchy] and adapting it for women's needs—so everyone can answer nature's call!

 

The [Pee] Problem 

Pants were invented by men, for men, and have yet to be properly modified for women, which explains why 1 out of every 3 women we've surveyed has had at least one outdoor bathroom accident in the last year alone. When we looked to the market, we learned that DIY solutions are unreliable. Hiking dresses lack a fashion-forwardness for the modern woman, remain defenseless in the cold, and are incompatible with harnesses. Female urination devices (FUDs) suggest there is something wrong with our anatomies (not to mention their tendency to overflow, plus sanitation issues!).

But here at SheFly, we know the problem is not our anatomies—it's our clothing. Outdoor apparel is the fastest growing sector in the clothing industry at $33 billion, and women's buying power is soaring annually.

Enter: The Zipper Revolution. 

 

 

The SheFly Solution: We Can't Hold It in Anymore

We developed a multi-purpose women's hiking pant that employs our patent-pending SheFly Zipper Technology to keep you safe, covered, and warm the next time nature calls. Our dual zipper system is designed for the mountains but is discreet on the street, so you can transition seamlessly from backpacking to brews.

Our Middlebury SheFly fans try out some early SheFly protoypes in the Vermont woods!

 

The SheFly zipper begins at the bottom of a normal zipper and extends all the way back, so YOU can choose the size and location of the space you need to create during your next hands-free pee—no matter your squat height, angle or spray.

Our pants are stretchy and offer pockets-a-plenty. Whether you're hiking, skiing, rock climbing, or simply walking your dog, SheFly helps you go on the go. 

 

Our [Wee] Little Story 

In the summer of 2016, co-founder Georgia Grace Edwards worked as one of a handful of women glacier guides on the Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau, Alaska. Spending 8–12 hours a day on the ice, Georgia Grace realized the serious disadvantage she faced when it came to using the bathroom on the glacier. In comparison to the guys, whose flies allowed them to simply turn around to answer nature's call, she was forced to trek across crevasses until she could find privacy, completely remove 3–4 layers in sub-zero temperatures, do her thing, put it all back on, and hike back.

 

It was a waste of time and energy, and it often left her feeling cold for hours after, to the point where she started cutting her water consumption—a story not uncommon among women adventurers in group settings or cold environments. 

In the summer of 2017, Georgia Grace met Bianca Gonzalez while interning at Goldman Sachs in Salt Lake City, Utah, bonding during long endurance hikes all over the state. On a particularly long hike—18 miles to and from Mt. Timpanogos—Georgia Grace and Bianca experienced several awkward bathroom breaks on the trail, where they were exposed in the presence of others and a chilly wind on the summit. Bianca, like many women, know this irritation all too well, but when she and Georgia Grace looked to the market for an answer, nothing cut it. 

When Bianca and Georgia Grace went back to Vermont to finish school, they met Charlotte Massey, an enthusiastic climber and mountaineer. Charlotte immediately knew the value of SheFlys in the outdoors and helped found SheFly after its initial Middlebury Entrepreneurs class launch in January of 2018.
 

Meet the team...

And learn more at www.sheflyapparel.com!

Alexis, Gabby, and Allyson have since joined the team, and we're continuing to grow in the Green Mountains of Vermont!
 

Below, founders Bianca, Georgia Grace, and Charlotte pitching SheFly at Sugarbush Skiing resort.

The founding team representing SheFly at Peak Pitch in Sugarbush, Vermont.


Sizing 

Manufacturing 

Our manufacturing partner, Visible Clothing, is a Fair Trade and zero waste clothing manufacturing facility in Dharmashala, India in the foothills of the Himalayas.

Visible believes it's essential to find ways to waste less, produce smarter, and develop new production structures with people and the environment in mind. Any excess or "waste fabric" that can't be used in clothing or accessories is turned into pulp by their partner organization that employs Tibetan refugees. This pulp is then given a new life as beautiful notebooks.

Visible’s team in India was formed on the belief that human rights must be upheld and that everyone should be treated equally. Their entire team works in a positive environment where wages are fair, career & skill growth are nurtured, and each person is encouraged to use their voice. We are proud to be working with another women empowerment company where transparency comes first!

How Your Funding Helps

We've spent our first year pitching, prototyping, patenting, and getting press. We've networked with other incredible womentrepreneurs at competitions like the Title Nine Movers and Makers Pitch Competition and events like Outdoor Retailers; we worked with local seamstresses and our fair trade factory through more than fifty iterations of our pants; we were interviewed on podcasts like SheExplores and Outside by Design and have been published in outlets like BostonInno, Vermont Sports, and RANGE. During all of this, we've expanded our team, marketing capabilities, and knowledge of the outdoor apparel industry.

Now, we need your help to make our first official line of SheFly Hiking Pants a reality. Your support helps us purchase the sustainable raw materials, local labor and legal advice, and collaborative brainpower to bring a whole generation of SheFlys to women and exPEEditions all over. 

From the bottom of our hearts: Thank you! We're extremely grateful (and piss-our-pants excited) to bring this product into the world! XOXO

 

 

The Campaign FAQs

1.  Do you wear underwear with SheFlys?

Great question. There are a few answers, depending on your personal preferences:
1) Ya sure do! SheFly is developing a double flap, boxer-style underwear that can be easily paired with our pants, which will hopefully be available by late fall 2019.
2) Totally! SheFlys will function with your normal underwear—just unzip and pull them to the side while answering nature's call!
3) You don't have to! Because our patent-pending SheFly Zipper Technology
™ ensures that a zipper is never in direct contact with your skin, you can give commando a try, if that's your style!

In short: whatever floats your boat!

2.  A zipper there? Isn't it uncomfortable?

Nope! We have spent significant time on prototyping for this very reason and have had dozens of women try out our pants to make sure the zipper is comfortable. As stated above, our patent-pending SheFly Zipper Technology™ ensures that a zipper is never in direct contact with your skin. We want women to feel comfortable in whatever they do, so we have an innovative design that keeps the zipper away from your body, so you can keep doing you. 

3.  Ok, I love the hiking pants, but what about legging layers?

Coming soon! For our first launch, we are offering SheFly hiking pants. The money we raise from this campaign will help us 1) get this first round of product out and 2) allow us to continue work on our next line: LongJanes™. These thermal leggings are great for layering underneath your SheFly Hiking Pants, or wearing solo on outdoor runs in the woods or around town! We'd love to have them available to you by winter 2019!

4.  Wait, I want ALL of your awesome rewards! How can I combine multiple packages?

You're in luck. You can either select our "I Want it All" reward, which gives you one of everything, OR, after you've selected a reward and completed checkout payment, you can return to our campaign page and select that other sweet women-owned reward that's calling your name. Again and again and again! Collect 'em all! 

5.  Who are SheFlys for?

We're glad you asked. EVERYONE! As women who saw a huge gaping hole in the outdoor apparel market, we designed these pants with women in mind. But, because our patent-pending SheFly Zipper Technology™ is an innovative and inclusive design, these pants are technically unisex and can be worn by anyone, no matter how you identify (we included trans men and women in our research and development) or how you answer nature's call—#1 and #2 included!

6.  What kind of fabric are SheFly pants made of? How and where are they made?

SheFly strives to use ethically sourced and environmentally sustainable materials. Our Fair Trade, sustainable manufacturing partner Visible Clothing is committed to sourcing the finest fabric and maintaining production facilities that are 100% Fair and 0% Waste.

Their team in Dharmashala, India was formed on the belief that women's rights are human rights and that everyone should be treated equally. We're ecstatic to be working with them!

 

01/25/2021
A Pair of Your Very Own SheFlys!
$110
Julia Steele
12/05/2019
A Pair of Your Very Own SheFlys!
$110
Keatyn
11/04/2019
A Pair of Your Very Own SheFlys!
$110
IFundWomen Pay-It-Forward
07/16/2019
Monetary Contribution
$3,500
administratie
06/02/2019
A Pair of Your Very Own SheFlys!
$110
06/01/2019
A Pair of Your Very Own SheFlys!
$110
05/31/2019
A Pair of Your Very Own SheFlys!
$110
Ted
05/29/2019
A Pair of Your Very Own SheFlys!
$110
molly fuller
05/27/2019
Monetary Contribution
$25
Julia Grace Rudlaff
05/23/2019
Podcasts & Playlist
$10
Monetary Contribution

Just Because! You choose the amount and forgo a reward (well, we'll still send you a SheFly sticker & a handwritten thank you note), helping us put even more toward our future product development!

31 Supporters
Select this reward
10.00 USD
Podcasts & Playlist

The best of the best in women's outdoors...

  • a summarized list of our favorite female-forward podcasts and blogs that are changing the game in the outdoors and are sure to leave you feeling inspired.
  • a custom and collaborative SheFly Spotify playlist link for download. We asked women young & old in our lives what songs make them feel most empowered, and here is what they said! This playlist is great for just about anything, whether you're testing out your new pair of SheFlys on a solo hike or hosting a girls' night.
27 Supporters
Select this reward
25.00 USD
Stick It Everywhere: Patch & Stickers
  • 1 Limited Edition NOSO Gear Patch 
    Called the "best piece of 2018 gear" by Outside Magazine, NOSO puffy patches by our friend Kelli are the fun and fashionable way to keep your gear lasting longer. Custom SheFly design.
  • 2 SheFly Stickers
    So you can spread more good will and pees on earth!
188 Left
12 Supporters
Select this reward
35.00 USD
Custom Kula Cloth
  • 1 Limited Edition SheFly Kula Cloth
    "One of the most important pieces of outdoor gear to come along in decade," the Kula Cloth, made by our friend Anastasia, paired with your SheFlys is a match made in heaven. Say goodbye to wet hands, excessive amounts of toilet paper, and the ineffective "drip n dry" method (and pants around your ankles, of course)!
  • 1 SheFly Sticker
    So you can spread more good will and pees on earth!
79 Left
21 Supporters
Select this reward
45.00 USD
Sweet SheFly Tee (Unisex)
  • 1 SheFly T-Shirt
    By our friends at Contour Creative; All shirts are hand designed, carved, and stamped so no two are alike!

Ethically sourced 50% poly / 25% cotton / 25% rayon; Pre-shrunk unisex sizing 

  • 1 SheFly Sticker
    So you can spread more good will and pees on earth!
15 Supporters
Select this reward
205.00 USD
Two Good to Pass Up!
  • 2 Pairs of SheFly Hiking Pants (save $15!)
    What's better than one pair of SheFlys? TWO! One for you, and one for the adventurous woman in your life. Chances are, you know someone whose life could be changed for the better with SheFly, whether it's your grandmother, aunt, cousin, mom, sister, partner, or best friend!

    Become the proud owner of SheFlys, designed right here in Vermont, USA, manufactured in a certified Fair Trade factory in India, and tested all over the world! You'll be surprised the new places these pants can take you—from more convenient dog walks to the tops of mountains and new rock climbing routes to outdoor concerts—you'll be able to go WHEREVER nature calls! 

  • 2 SheFly Stickers
    So you can spread more good will and pees on earth!

    The pants come in two color options:

  • Stealth Pee: Black fabric with a black zipper and colorful logo embroidery.*
  • Bold Pee: Black fabric with a colorful zipper and logo embroidery. The flap covers the colorful zipper so you can choose to show it off when you'd like! *
  • *no visible "SheFly" on the outside of the pants, only the logo.

    **** At the end of the campaign we will email you for your size and your preferred color option.
    Please note that refunds will not be available. 

38 Supporters
None available
220.00 USD
I Want It All!

1 of everything we're offering! (Save $5!)

  • 1 copy of the "Best of the Best of Women's Outdoors" + 1 link to our original SheFly Spotify playlist
  • 1 limited edition SheFly NOSO patch + 3 SheFly stickers
  • 1 limited edition SheFly Kula Cloth
  • 1 SheFly T-shirt
  • 1 pair of SheFly pants!

**Check back with us soon for our sizing chart!**
Please note that refunds will not be available. ​​​​​​​

26 Supporters
Select this reward
500.00 USD
Far Out Art
  • 1 6x4ft oil and acrylic original by Charred Latte Art
    This Glacier Peak-inspired original by our very own co-founder, Charlotte Massey, will add a pop of color and inspiration to any space it inhabits. In the artist's words, "I used textural elements and gloss to bring out the dynamics of the landscape and experimented with planets in the sky to convey how this backpacking trip felt; civilization was so far away that it felt like a whole other world."
  • 1 SheFly Sticker
    So you can spread more good will and pees on earth!
1 Left
0 Supporters
Select this reward

About the Entrepreneur

Burlington, VT
Created 1 Campaign
Lifestyle

Rewards

Monetary Contribution

Just Because! You choose the amount and forgo a reward (well, we'll still send you a SheFly sticker & a handwritten thank you note), helping us put even more toward our future product development!

31 Supporters
Select this reward
10.00 USD
Podcasts & Playlist

The best of the best in women's outdoors...

  • a summarized list of our favorite female-forward podcasts and blogs that are changing the game in the outdoors and are sure to leave you feeling inspired.
  • a custom and collaborative SheFly Spotify playlist link for download. We asked women young & old in our lives what songs make them feel most empowered, and here is what they said! This playlist is great for just about anything, whether you're testing out your new pair of SheFlys on a solo hike or hosting a girls' night.
27 Supporters
Select this reward
25.00 USD
Stick It Everywhere: Patch & Stickers
  • 1 Limited Edition NOSO Gear Patch 
    Called the "best piece of 2018 gear" by Outside Magazine, NOSO puffy patches by our friend Kelli are the fun and fashionable way to keep your gear lasting longer. Custom SheFly design.
  • 2 SheFly Stickers
    So you can spread more good will and pees on earth!
188 Left
12 Supporters
Select this reward
35.00 USD
Custom Kula Cloth
  • 1 Limited Edition SheFly Kula Cloth
    "One of the most important pieces of outdoor gear to come along in decade," the Kula Cloth, made by our friend Anastasia, paired with your SheFlys is a match made in heaven. Say goodbye to wet hands, excessive amounts of toilet paper, and the ineffective "drip n dry" method (and pants around your ankles, of course)!
  • 1 SheFly Sticker
    So you can spread more good will and pees on earth!
79 Left
21 Supporters
Select this reward
45.00 USD
Sweet SheFly Tee (Unisex)
  • 1 SheFly T-Shirt
    By our friends at Contour Creative; All shirts are hand designed, carved, and stamped so no two are alike!

Ethically sourced 50% poly / 25% cotton / 25% rayon; Pre-shrunk unisex sizing 

  • 1 SheFly Sticker
    So you can spread more good will and pees on earth!
15 Supporters
Select this reward
205.00 USD
Two Good to Pass Up!
  • 2 Pairs of SheFly Hiking Pants (save $15!)
    What's better than one pair of SheFlys? TWO! One for you, and one for the adventurous woman in your life. Chances are, you know someone whose life could be changed for the better with SheFly, whether it's your grandmother, aunt, cousin, mom, sister, partner, or best friend!

    Become the proud owner of SheFlys, designed right here in Vermont, USA, manufactured in a certified Fair Trade factory in India, and tested all over the world! You'll be surprised the new places these pants can take you—from more convenient dog walks to the tops of mountains and new rock climbing routes to outdoor concerts—you'll be able to go WHEREVER nature calls! 

  • 2 SheFly Stickers
    So you can spread more good will and pees on earth!

    The pants come in two color options:

  • Stealth Pee: Black fabric with a black zipper and colorful logo embroidery.*
  • Bold Pee: Black fabric with a colorful zipper and logo embroidery. The flap covers the colorful zipper so you can choose to show it off when you'd like! *
  • *no visible "SheFly" on the outside of the pants, only the logo.

    **** At the end of the campaign we will email you for your size and your preferred color option.
    Please note that refunds will not be available. 

38 Supporters
None available
220.00 USD
I Want It All!

1 of everything we're offering! (Save $5!)

  • 1 copy of the "Best of the Best of Women's Outdoors" + 1 link to our original SheFly Spotify playlist
  • 1 limited edition SheFly NOSO patch + 3 SheFly stickers
  • 1 limited edition SheFly Kula Cloth
  • 1 SheFly T-shirt
  • 1 pair of SheFly pants!

**Check back with us soon for our sizing chart!**
Please note that refunds will not be available. ​​​​​​​

26 Supporters
Select this reward
500.00 USD
Far Out Art
  • 1 6x4ft oil and acrylic original by Charred Latte Art
    This Glacier Peak-inspired original by our very own co-founder, Charlotte Massey, will add a pop of color and inspiration to any space it inhabits. In the artist's words, "I used textural elements and gloss to bring out the dynamics of the landscape and experimented with planets in the sky to convey how this backpacking trip felt; civilization was so far away that it felt like a whole other world."
  • 1 SheFly Sticker
    So you can spread more good will and pees on earth!
1 Left
0 Supporters
Select this reward