Building a fast growing ski fashion brand

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This week’s interview is a contribution from Sophia Dodd. Sophia is a venture capital investor at Touchdown Ventures. She focuses on investing in and working with startups in the consumer and built world segments, supporting their commercial strategy and strategic partnership functions. Sophia is also an angel investor in Halfdays.

Interview Highlights:

• Validating the demand prior to launching

• Funding the business in the early days

• How Ariana convinced investors to support her brand

• Lessons from navigating the supply chain

• Entering new markets & expanding the business

• How they’ve achieved high visibility as an emerging brand

• Building a loyal audience that converts into sales

• Expanding from DTC to wholesale

Halfdays is emerging as a beacon of style, functionality, and inclusivity in the outdoor world. Designed with the modern woman in mind, Halfdays offers a fusion of fashion-forward aesthetics and high-performance functionality. Picture it as “technical meets chic,” offering gear that effortlessly transitions from mountain slopes to après-ski scenes, all at an approachable price point.

Halfdays represents more than just its products. It is a movement towards sustainability and inclusivity. With a commitment to utilizing responsibly sourced recycled materials and fostering a global network of women, Halfdays is reshaping the narrative around women’s adventure gear.

Founded in 2019, the team has raised over $4M from VCs to propel the brand past an 8-figure sales milestone.

I interviewed Ariana Ferwerda, Co-Founder and CEO of Halfdays, as she shares the brand’s journey, strategy, and vision for the future.

Founding The Business & Fundraising

How did you gain enough conviction to make the leap into entrepreneurship and found Halfdays?

The idea for Halfdays started from a personal pain point. When I moved to Denver, I found myself in search of outdoor gear, only to find pretty disappointing options. Drawing from my background in retail consulting, I couldn't ignore the significant gaps in the women's ski gear department, gaps I personally experienced as a frustrated shopper.

When I met one of my co-founders, Kiley McKinnon, an Olympic freestyle aerial skier, she illuminated the broader implications of this issue, revealing that the neglect of the women's market was deeply entrenched within the industry.

To validate our beliefs, we conducted over 200 interviews with women. Through this process, we not only confirmed our initial thesis but also unearthed another common sentiment: aspiring women skiers encountered significant barriers to entry in entering the sport. Armed with this invaluable insight, we found the conviction to take the leap into entrepreneurship. It fueled our determination to challenge the existing status quo and pave the way for a more inclusive and accessible skiing community.

How did you approach prototyping the product and design to ensure alignment with customer preferences?

My co-founders and I leveraged our own experience, with each of us representing a different facet of our target demographic, we had a diverse range of perspectives to draw from. This allowed us to delve into our own closets for inspiration, leveraging our individual tastes and preferences.

The ski-pant we designed was inspired by our favorite activewear and denim pieces, while our vision for the jacket echoed our desire for a classic, streamlined, and timeless aesthetic. Luckily, my cofounders and I shared the same vision for the design of the pieces, so we were aligned early on and began working with freelance designers to bring these ideas to life.

How did you fund the early days of the business?

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