Mien is a small company based in the Netherlands, with its monicker standing for “appearance and presence”.
Mien says, they set out to create a range of women’s cycling apparel that captured both a sense of elegance, while also providing unsurpassed performance and attention to detail.
To wit, “all of our garments are designed from scratch for the female form with a flattering tailored fit, with the goal of balancing function and fashion to ensure comfort and technical performance without compromising the aesthetic.”
Additionally, Mien says their garments are so versatile, they can be worn in conjunction with other forms of exercise such as hiking, walking, running and running.
Mien has currently undertaken a crowd-funding campaign on Kickstarter as a means of raising support to get their apparel into full production and into the hands of women cyclists.
more from Mien…
How Mien Started
I guess we had a little mid-life crisis. Neither of us were satisfied with our corporate careers, life was just ticking along for us, we needed to muck it up a little, get out of our comfort zone and do something exciting. We’ve toyed with many business ideas over the years, but the idea of creating a women’s cycling brand has continually been in the forefront of our minds. We wanted to create a brand that makes clothes for women who enjoy cycling, garments that are in tune with how they live and ride.
Being spontaneous types, it wasn’t a difficult decision for us to dive head first into a new direction. We spent the next 6 months researching and validating our concept. It took another year to create our first collection.
Hendro got in touch with a woman he knew from the days when he rode semi-pro. She had decades of experience in product development and design, so we were keen to get her input on our project. She shared our vision and felt the same about the current offering for women – there wasn’t much out there that she wanted to wear so she was keen to get involved. Our obstacle was that we were in opposite hemispheres – we were in Australia, and she was in Switzerland.
Working together over Skype at odd hours, meeting in Hong Kong and Europe, and collaborating closely with our production partner in Italy we put together our first collection.
We are a global team that moves around a lot, we are not restricted by location, but we have a home. Our home is in The Netherlands.
FABRICS AND PRODUCTION
All of our fabrics and accessories are sourced in Europe. We do not compromise on quality, we use the absolute best, sourced from top mills in Italy and France, all of which have a super soft handfeel.
For our Merino based garments we choose to use a Merino wool blend, the blend strengthens the wool and gives more structure to the garments, it also increases the moisture wicking capabilities of the wool. At the same time you benefit from the Merino properties such as thermo regulation, odour reduction (anti-bacterial) and breathabiity. It’s perfect for cycling.
Our INSPIRE shorts and 3/4 pants are made from a Microfibre Polyamide and Lycra blend. The elasticity and the high percentage of Lycra fibre allows for perfect freedom of movement, impeccable wearability and maximum retention of shape of the pants even after repeated washing.The open honeycomb construction of the fabric allows air to circulate between the fibres. This makes it cooler and more hygienic.
Our ESSENTIAL padded shorts and 3/4 leggings are made from an innovative double-face fabric putting together the benefits of polyamide and polyester: when polyester is in contact with the skin it wicks away sweat while polyamide disperses it. A very soft, two way stretch fabric, that is pleasant to wear.
The chamois we use is designed specifically for women. We’ve tried and tested many, in our opinion this is the best chamois in the market for women. The chamois is made using mould technology to ensure the pad follows your skin in motion, giving perfect contact with the body eliminating irritation. AirPlus technology is used to create an avant-garde microfiber that guarantees technical and sensory performance that no other material can equal.
Mien Kickstarter
Mien
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