A STARTUP BRAND SETS OUT TO BRIDGE THE GAP BETWEEN FASHION AND FUNCTION.
With a chic collection of versatile skiwear, Halfdays’ mission is to make outdoor sports more approachable, inclusive and fun. PHOTO BY SOPHIE ANDREASSEND/COURTESY OF HALFDAYS
WHEN FREESTYLE SKIER Kiley McKinnon competed in aerials at the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang, her U.S. Ski Team uniform pants were unisex. “Essentially, they were fit for a man’s body and resized for a women’s, aka the ‘shrink it and pink it method,’” McKinnon says. The experience inspired her to co-found Halfdays (halfdays.com), an apparel line combining a street-style aesthetic with minimalist principles.
Before going to market in 2020, the three founders (all women) spoke with hundreds of female skiers, outdoor lovers and “outdoorsyish” consumers. The resounding response: Many women feel left out by a male-dominated industry that makes apparel for either the pinnacle athlete or the luxury consumer. Halfdays rebels against this status quo by focusing on the everyday outdoor enthusiast. With versatile designs and colors, the brand’s intention is to inspire and encourage all women to feel good about getting out on the mountain.
Halfdays Georgie puffer and Isabel softshell bib. PHOTO BY SOPHIE ANDREASSEND/COURTESY OF HALFDAYS
Working with a team of designers who came from brands like Vince, Kith, The Arrivals and The North Face, McKinnon has developed a line of outerwear trimmed of the unnecessary extras, making the apparel more accessible for the champion skier and the one-run-and-done après-aficionado alike. The jackets and layers are technical enough for deep powder but stylish enough to be worn as streetwear.
In keeping with its mission to make outdoor sports more approachable and inclusive, Halfdays added expanded sizing to its latest collection. “We want every woman to feel welcome in the outdoors, so we conducted fit castings on women from sizes 0 to 26,” McKinnon says. “All our styles are now available in sizes XS to 2X, in both short and regular.”
The brand also uses responsibly sourced and recycled fabrics, all core materials are bluesign certified, and its layering pieces leverage a seamless technology to minimize leftover fabric waste.
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