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K.O.M. Apparel - Crowdsourced Cycling Apparel

Specially designed, quality cycling apparel, and a purpose for your dollar beyond corporate profit.

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K.O.M. Apparel - Crowdsourced Cycling Apparel

K.O.M. Apparel - Crowdsourced Cycling Apparel

K.O.M. Apparel - Crowdsourced Cycling Apparel

K.O.M. Apparel - Crowdsourced Cycling Apparel

K.O.M. Apparel - Crowdsourced Cycling Apparel

Specially designed, quality cycling apparel, and a purpose for your dollar beyond corporate profit.

Specially designed, quality cycling apparel, and a purpose for your dollar beyond corporate profit.

Specially designed, quality cycling apparel, and a purpose for your dollar beyond corporate profit.

Specially designed, quality cycling apparel, and a purpose for your dollar beyond corporate profit.

Noah Stamsta
Noah Stamsta
Noah Stamsta
Noah Stamsta
1 Campaign |
Whitewater, United States
$2,358 USD 17 backers
23% of $10,000 Flexible Goal Flexible Goal
Choose your Perk
Nonprofit Donation & Cap
featured

Nonprofit Donation & Cap

$35 USD $45 USD (22% off)
Est. Shipping
December 2017
0 out of 150 of claimed
Empty Box Robot

Immortality (of sorts)

$10 USD $10,000,000 USD (99% off)
Est. Shipping
December 2017
0 out of 100 of claimed
Patch, Drink, Snack and Strava

Patch, Drink, Snack and Strava

$45 USD $60 USD (25% off)
Est. Shipping
February 2018
0 out of 125 of claimed
Early - Limited Edition Jersey

Early - Limited Edition Jersey

$70 USD $90 USD (22% off)
Est. Shipping
January 2018
3 out of 20 of claimed
Empty Box Robot

Jersey Voucher & Letter

$80 USD $100 USD (20% off)
Est. Shipping
December 2017
0 out of 50 of claimed
Early - Limited Edition Kit

Early - Limited Edition Kit

$160 USD $200 USD (20% off)
Est. Shipping
January 2017
9 out of 20 of claimed
Empty Box Robot

Kit Voucher & Letter

$180 USD $210 USD (14% off)
Est. Shipping
December 2017
0 out of 50 of claimed
Empty Box Robot

Summer Package

$230 USD $275 USD (16% off)
Est. Shipping
January 2018
2 out of 30 of claimed
Empty Box Robot

Winter Package

$230 USD $275 USD (16% off)
Est. Shipping
January 2018
0 out of 30 of claimed
Empty Box Robot

One of Everything, Please

$350 USD $500 USD (30% off)
Est. Shipping
January 2018
0 out of 50 of claimed
Empty Box Robot

Collaborator's Package

$2,500 USD $5,000 USD (50% off)
Est. Shipping
April 2018
0 out of 1 of claimed
Prototype
The project team has a working demo, not the final product. Their ability to begin production may be affected by product development or financial challenges.
Check Wrench Warehouse Truck
Concept Prototype Production Shipping
Overview
We are K.O.M. Apparel, K.O.M. standing for "Kit of the Month" in our case, a play on the prestigious "King of the Mountains" award received in the Tour de France and similar cycling events. Our goal is to create a relationship with our users, allowing you to submit your own designs, vote, and donate to a nonprofit partner of your choice. Crowdsourcing designs, user voting, and partnerships with nonprofit organizations to donate a percentage of proceeds - that's what we're about.

The Problems

The founder of K.O.M. Apparel looked at the current cycling apparel market and saw three problems; 

  1. Design
    • Current cycling apparel brands are out of touch when it comes to designing product for riders. Design are repetitive and unoriginal, and where is the riders input? Custom designs are possible, but when custom orders are created, quality is often sacrificed to balance design costs, and customers must often meet unreasonable and unrealistic minimum order quantity rules. 
  2. Cost
    • Cycling apparel in general is expensive, especially as the quality of the product increases. Top and bottom pairs (kits) can reach $500+ dollars when reaching the long lasting and comfort level of professional apparel. Part of this cost is due to companies forecasting and carrying stock of their items, needing to then sell certain quantities at certain prices in order to maintain profit. Forecasting is difficult, and incurs costs then passed onto the customer.
  3. Purpose
    • Not only is cycling apparel expensive, but for what purpose? To pay company salaries and go back into the company to sponsor professional teams with new toys? Customers should know their purchase is going towards more than that, and corporate entities should be held to higher socially conscious standards than profit in their sales.

Our Solutions

Problems are opportunities for innovation, and that's exactly how K.O.M. Apparel approached improving the cycling apparel market for the consumer. The relationship we will hold with the customer is unlike any other cycling apparel brand, and we kept that ideal close to heart when developing our company's solutions;

  1. Design
    • Get users in on the design process! With our model, apparel designs are provided by the users in a crowdsourcing platform. Customers submit designs, and their vote will also determine which kit is put into production. No longer will the opinions of corporate heads and acclaimed designers solely speak for the people.
  2. Cost
    • One of our largest advantages is never carrying regular stock of our custom apparel. Everything is pre sold, meaning we will never forecast and order a quantity of product ahead of time, that we then need to sell in order to assure profit. As a result, no costs are incurred by storing and stocking custom apparel.
  3. Purpose
    • Not only is our apparel high quality and less expensive because of our business model, but our apparel can be purchased for a reason beyond consumerism. K.O.M. Apparel prides itself in maintaining numerous partnerships with nonprofit organizations, allowing users to donate a dedicated portion of proceeds from their purchase to a partner of their choice. Beyond revenue and profitability, our brand offers a social aspect as well.

What We Need

We have secured a manufacturer, tested our supply chain, and brought real product to real people. Up until this point, financing efforts have been through the bootstrapping efforts of our founder, and now we're asking for your help. This campaign holds the goal of $10,000, and we have some very specific places your contribution will go. Our last barriers to full scale market entry are all about improving user experience. Final packaging and labeling goods, a space to safely hold our product before final shipment to customers, and our e-commerce costs are all specifically budgeted items your contribution makes possible.

  1. Packaging & labeling, printed goods
    • As our company's full launch approaches, our absolute goal is to provide the best user experience possible. Beyond our standards of customer service and revolutionary customer relationship formation, we believe in providing for you down to the finest details. These details include the last touches of handwritten letters, beautiful tags, and other printed goods to be included in users shipments.
  2. Workspace
    • As highlighted in our problem solutions, K.O.M. Apparel has eliminated the need for true product warehouses and storage facilities. We are proud of the savings this allows us to provide riders. We do, however, still need one small facility to assure product quality and allow the hand packaging of purchases by our staff.
  3. E-commerce 
    • K.O.M. Apparel is an entirely e-commerce based brand, meaning we maintain no physical storefront for our business. As a result, we are able to provide for a significantly larger population of riders, and implement our process of crowdsourcing and user voting. The funds of our founders have allowed the development of our e-commerce platform, and it is your final contribution that will allow our full scale, public launch.

Those are the specific places your backing will go, all in our mission to provide high quality cycling apparel with a personally designed touch and give users a reason for their purchase other than corporate profit. Crowdsourcing designs, user voting, and partnerships with nonprofit organizations to donate a percentage of proceeds - that's what we're about, and that's what you make possible.

What You Get

As campaign backers, you have a variety of rewards and perks to select, ranging from "immortality" to full apparel packages, and even the opportunity to collaborate and design the first public kit of K.O.M. Apparel.

1. Immortality (of sorts)

  • Immortality?! A public page of our website will forever be dedicated to the backers of this campaign, filled with their names, eternalizing them for all of time. Backers of this reward will also receive a handwritten letter from the Founder of K.O.M. Apparel.

2. Nonprofit Donation & Cap

  • Aligning with our nonprofit partnerships, select this reward and donate to Back on My Feet. This organization provides employment and stable housing opportunities to the homeless through running. Also, you will receive a limited edition K.O.M. Apparel cycling cap.

3. Patch, Drink, Snack and Strava

  • Make us work for it! Receive an iron-on patch, a snack from Barnana, and 1lb of coffee provided by Stone Creek Coffee. Also, for every backer of this level, our founder will ride 2 miles, and prove it to you through Strava. Yes, we know it's about to be winter in Wisconsin... Ride on!

4. Limited Edition Jersey

  • Receive a high quality, limited edition jersey from K.O.M. Apparel available only during this campaign. Select from one of the two designs, both available in men's and women's cut.

5. Jersey Voucher & Letter

  • Not interested in the design we're offering, but love the idea of our company? We'll always be coming out with new designs. Select this option, and receive a handwritten letter and redeemable coupon code to use in the future. Stop by our website once we launch, and redeem your pre-purchased jersey.

6. Limited Edition Kit

  • You will receive the high quality, limited edition jersey from K.O.M. Apparel, and also the matching bottoms (bibs or shorts) to complete the exclusive ensemble. Select from one of the two designs, both available in men's and women's cut, shorts or bibs.

7. Kit Voucher & Letter

  • Not interested in the design we're offering, but love the idea of our company? We'll always be coming out with new designs. Select this option, and receive a handwritten letter and redeemable coupon code to use in the future. Stop by our website once we launch, and redeem your pre-purchased kit (jersey and bottoms).

8. Summer Package

  • What do all cyclists need in the Summer? A great kit, a breathable baselayer, a snack, and fresh coffee. Receive all of that in this exclusive package, snack provided by Barnana and coffee provided by Stone Creek Coffee.

9. Winter Package

  • What do all cyclists need in the Winter? A great kit, some matching arm warmers, a snack, and a warm cup of coffee. Receive all of that in this exclusive package, snack provided by Barnana and coffee provided by Stone Creek Coffee.

10. One of Everything, Please

  • You want the full spread; a full, limited edition kit, a breathable baselayer, a cycling cap, the iron-on patch, and a 5lb bag of Stone Creek Coffee. Also, we'll make a donation to the nonprofit organization Back on My Feet, helping it's members move their lives towards stable housing and employment ($25).

11. Collaborator's Package

  • This is the big one. You will work directly with K.O.M. Apparel to create one of the designs for the Public Launch of our brand. Collaboration, plus everything listed in the "One of Everything, Please" package. Also, we'll get you a pair of custom, handpainted Fizik R1B's, handpainted by Simon Fellows of Artful Kicks.

The Impact

So, why back us? We give our users a voice in the product and design they receive, and not only do we give our users a voice, but users can feel incredibly positive in the voice they have with K.O.M. Apparel. More than with any other company, the opinion of our customers is heard, and due to the contributions their purchase makes to our nonprofit partners, is an opinion worth voicing. Help us become a reality, and know you helped a University of Wisconsin - Whitewater student realize his dream of providing riders with high quality, crowdsource designed cycling apparel while donating to meaningful nonprofit causes.

Risks & Challenges

As with any startup, there are associated risks and challenges with our progress. Our goal from the beginning has be to eliminate and minimize the risks and challenges our team will face, and we have with great success. Manufacturing logistics, gender differences in our apparel lines, ease of website use, and nonprofit partnerships all came with associated hurdles (or barricades, you cyclocross junkies) our founder overcame.  At K.O.M. Apparel, we believe one of our biggest challenges to be brand outreach and user engagement. Putting our name onto the radar of riders is of the utmost importance, and it is what will allow our entire crowdsourcing and donation platform to thrive. Luckily, in talking with incredible mentors available at the University of Wisconsin - Whitewater, and such successful crowdsourcing business founders as Henry Schwartz at MobCraft Beer, our team is confident in our ability to meet these challenges. 

Other Ways You Can Help

We mentioned a potential challenge of user engagement, and that's where you come in. Whether you can or are willing to donate, sharing our campaign and brand is something everyone can take part in. If you believe in our movement, take a moment to share, tweet, forward, link... anything our campaign. At the top of this campaign page, Indiegogo features simple to use sharing tools.

Thank you, and we at K.O.M. Apparel are eager to begin our progress together.

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