New clothing brand called KOY Gear started by U of A alumni

A new clothing company started by three alumni from the University of Alberta is bringing high tech upgrades to Canadian wardrobes this month.

KOY Gear is a men’s technical apparel company started and designed by University of Alberta alumni Patrick Li, co-founder Geoff Wong, and head of business development Davis Riar. 

Originally, KOY Gear started with a product line called Silver Fibre Underwear. Unsure of market demand, the start-up launched a Kickstarter in December 2017. The campaign was successful and raised $32,129, exceeding their $10,000 goal. 

For their next project, KOY Gear created a new line of clothing called KG Socks and Tee, which will have a Kickstarter campaign from September 17 to October 17. KOY Gear will be offering a pre-sale launch for their new products. Backers can buy, socks, t-shirts, or bundle packages of both.

After the success of their Silver Fiber Underwear, Riar said that the company wanted to expand their product line.

“We always knew we didn’t want to be an underwear company,” Riar said, “We wanted to be a technical apparel company. We asked all of [our] backers what they want to see next. Everyone voted on different products, whether it was pants, or long sleeved shirts.”

“Everyone said, keep it simple, just go with socks and t-shirts,” he added. “It’s something that everybody can wear. Everyone always has a use for a technical t-shirt.” 

According to the KOY Gear website, their t-shirts are ultrasoft, stain resistant, and moisture wicking. The socks are antibacterial, breathable, anti-odour, and have a soft honeycomb padding protecting the bottoms of the feet. 

“We’ve never seen material innovation applied to this level,” Riar explained. “Our competitors on the market, typically [make] clothing that will just lay flat, [or] clothing that is stain resistant on the outside, or maybe it’s breathable or odour resistant. We began to develop all these material innovations and put them into one product.” 

“It’s the most versatile t-shirt that we think that’s on the market,” Riar said, “Even to the extent where you can take a can of Pepsi and dump it on yourself, and it will just roll right off. But on the inside, sweat can dissipate and not show sweat stains.” 

As well as being highly beneficial for everyday use, KOY Gear believes that their products can also benefit the environment. 

“We’re not just going for the fast fashion product at the end of the day,” Riar said. “The reason why people want to back our products is that it’s the highest quality product on the market, and it’s eventually going to replace some of the fast fashion that has detrimental implications to the environment.”