Sometimes, a bad situation is an opportunity in disguise and one local woman used her bad situation to start a fashion company while she was still in college. During her senior year, Jacalyn Gross used the women around her to start creating market research for a sportswear line. Pleasantly surprised by all of the feedback, she immediately started creating prototypes for activewear that would fit properly, function correctly and look fantastic. All of that hard work has led to a growing business made for women, by women!
DGG: Tell us about yourself, Jacalyn.
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| Image Courtesy of UR Sportswear |
DGG: Tell us about yourself, Jacalyn.
Jacalyn Gross: To talk about myself, I guess I
couldn't do it without talking about running. I love running. It is a lifestyle
for me; it is what centers me when everything else gets a little crazy. I
started running when I was 12 years old to get fit for soccer, and I have been
doing it ever since. I ran in college the 800m for Michigan State University,
but these days I just enjoy the distance . I also enjoy climbing, yoga, boxing and
hiking, pretty much anything active. I love to meet and talk to new people. I
am driven, a hard worker sometimes to a silly degree and I like to do the job
before I hire someone to do it for me. Part of that is to save money, but
mostly so I know how much it is worth for someone to do that for me. I am
devoted to building women up; I think society tells us to compete with one
another I like to inspire and empower women in any way that I can. I also love
to laugh, and I don't think we do that enough.
DGG:
Tell us about UR Sportswear.
JG: During my time as a college athlete, I was
issued shorts that were too short, shirts made for football players, and
numerous other pieces of ill-fitting attire. As a result, I suffered from a bit
of body dysmorphia, as many women have in that situation, and I wanted to stop
that from happening to other women. My philosophy is that an athletic
garment is a tool to help you achieve your goals. It should be made to fit you,
not the other way around. If it doesn't fit, that does not mean there is something
wrong with your body, it means that the garment is not designed to suit your
needs. As a result of the lack of available choices in women’s sportswear, I
decided to create a company that was about real women. In order to find out
what those needs were, during my senior year of college, I went to my target
audience, active women, to get feedback about what they wanted out of their
sportswear.
I was surprised by all of the positive responses I
received for my project from the active women I surveyed. What I found was that
there were some important sportswear needs that just were not being met. In
particular, I found that the “ride up” factor typical of spandex shorts was a
major problem. I used this problem as a starting point and set to work
constructing a prototype of a better-fitting, more comfortable short that, more
importantly, would not ride up. During this process, I tested multiple
different styles, fits, and materials and solicited the opinion of other active
women. These shorts were truly a “by women, for women” product, from start to
finish.
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| Image Courtesy of UR Sportswear |
UR got its name because it is who "You
Are." UR was created to help empower women to feel confident in their
activewear are heard
We now have the following products:
•
Convertible Short - This convertible short
gives you options. Flip between a 7 inch inseam or a 9 inch depending how you
feel or how much you’d like to cover up.
•
Control Top Capri - This control top capri waist band glutes
•
Extra Long Wicking Tank - This extra
long racerback tank is cut to hang low and not ride high. Keeping
covered what you want covered.
•
Skirted Tank - This racerback tank has a long
slimming under-layer with a looser, flattering
•
Slimming
Tank: This racerback tank is designed to be slimming and is cut
longer to keep it from riding up. Add in the tuck-under nutrition pocket and
flat seams and this is your ideal UR marathon on up top.
•
Empower T-shirts - T-shirts to motivate and
inspire
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| Image Courtesy of UR Sportswear |
DGG:
You say in the about section on your website that you ask for consumer input on
the look, fit and feel of UR apparel. What has been some of the feedback you've
gotten that you've incorporated into your brand and how does that feed back
come to you?
JG: I do it all. We gather information from
Google group chat, expos, emails, calls and online surveys. Basically, I find
out what is trending in sportswear and what is inspiring me in the market place
that would also help to solve insecurities of women. Then, I come up with
several solutions and I post the designs on Instagram, Facebook, Google+ page
and on our webpage. People will like, comment, and interact. Once we have
finalized on the design, I will work on the details such as colorways
DGG:
Tell us about your time in Los Angeles, CA. What were the most important things you learned
about starting a company while you were there?
JG: Well, that was when I first toured a large
production house, so I got to see the sewing steps I learned about in college in action. The fashion bookstore was very helpful in making contacts, and
always to ask as many questions as possible.
DGG:
What does your office space look like?
JG: My office consists of my Mac with organized chaos of paper piles,
fabric samples and sketched ideas. I go through phases of being organized, and
getting crazy busy and having stacks of paper everywhere.
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| Image Courtesy of UR Sportswear |
DGG:
Describe your style.
JG: I would
say sporty/casual, but I am all over the map. I think differently in different
clothes, so it depends on my inspiration.
DGG:
What is your most favorite article of clothing you own, and why?
JG: UR's Just Rock shorts. I have been running in those
(the original pair
DGG:
How do you take your coffee?
JG: 2% milk and three sugars.
DGG:
Spandex or loose fitting workout pants?
JG: Spandex.
DGG:
Lululemon or Athletica?
JG: UR Sportswear.
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