LIVSN to release trail pants this fall

Fayetteville-based outdoor apparel retailer LIVSN Designs will launch this fall pants made mostly of recycled materials after receiving media attention from two magazines on its existing pants.

The second version of its Flex Canvas Pants was featured in the Best Climbing Gear of 2020 section of Outside magazine’s Summer Buyer’s Guide and dubbed Gear Junkie’s Favorite Pants of 2020. Last summer, LIVSN raised $106,364 in a crowdsourced Kickstarter campaign with 801 backers and exceeded its goal by more than 10 times.

Andrew Gibbs-Dabney, the founder of LIVSN Designs, said about 30% of the backers were repeat customers who had purchased the original Flex Canvas Pants, which debuted in 2018. Gibbs-Dabney also said the media attention has contributed to increased sales and brand exposure, lifting product credibility.

“We’ve spent our time pretty much since the start of this company making sure that we have the best product we can that serves the market that we’re trying to sell to and do it better than anybody else,” he said. “And it seems like that has opened the door to very hard to reach people, not only just the editors but buyers at stores, consumers that are really picky that are leaving good reviews.”

The company’s new pants will be released in September via Kickstarter. A name has yet to be selected, but the pants will be “more technical, more trail-oriented,” he said. About 90% of the raw material used to create the synthetic pants will be recycled ocean waste. The past life of the materials for the pants containing a nylon and spandex blend comprised “fishing nets and ocean buoys that have been reprocessed into a technical fabric that’ll be sweat-wicking, really stretchy, stain-resistant, water-resistant, odor-resistant and really quick-drying,” Gibbs-Dabney said.

Women’s pants and shorts also are in the works. The company also looks to start this fall a wholesale business, allowing for its clothing to be sold in 20 stores in eight states across the Midwest, mid-South and Southeast.

LIVSN has two employees and works with multiple companies for sourcing, outsourcing, and promoting and shipping of its apparel.