Today we drove 40 mountain pass miles to Leadville, aka Pb, Colorado to buy outdoor gear from a rather exclusive outdoor brand. Was the drive worth it? Inarguably no, as the drive home was 2 hours of hands gripped on the steering wheel driving through slippery roads past snow banked cars. But the matching hoodies we bought are pretty dang sweet.
Melanzana is an outdoor clothing brand with a single shared factory and store front in an out of the way Colorado town. They employ 50 people, making fleece hoodies in “the highest incorporated city in the US.”
My guess is most people have never heard of Melanzana, but for Coloradans, this brand is part of the cultural canon. I asked some of our Colorado friends why this brand is so popular.
Molly Lampkin: “Melanzana is for the exclusivity. The style comes from the smell of the bated breath before earning your appointment. It’s built from the knowledge that you’re part of the in outdoor club”
Mitch Hotop: “They are good jackets, and I wear mine everywhere. I think it started as a cult thing and then started growing. Then it took off. I think it’s partly due to the fact that they’re so hard to get.”
Emulating the exclusive handmade mountain energy of Melanzana, Lizzy and Jenna have started their own outdoor brand this ski trip. They started with this set of beautiful quilt cut bomber jackets and have now moved on to neon helmet hoodies.
These two have been sewing at an absolute tear. Both Lizzy and Jenna spend their working hours coding but are drawn to sewing after hours. “It’s nice to have a creative outlet when my job doesn’t feel like a creative outlet.” Lizzy say. “Plus it’s nice to tell people I made whatever I’m wearing.” Jenna mentions that it’s nice to see “Tangible results after working in a very non-tangible industry. It’s easy to see, and everyone wears clothes.” So it seems that this newly minted “Mt. Fig” outdoor company was started as an escape from work. Given that, it’s fitting that it was started on our annual ski vacation.
This brand, like Melanzana is rather exclusive. They casually mentioned to me that their main supplier, Joann, is actually running out of business which may make “Mt Fig” items even harder to get in the future. But as long as they’re producing, if you’d like to buy one, you can go ahead and make an appointment with Lizzy, than drive through terrible roads for 3 hours for the privilege of paying $75 for a neon fleece hoodie!