Vulpine Clothing

Do I see chris watching drop the donkey !

bravo to vulpine for having a go and doing it!!! (even though i lost my entire basket when then site stopped working)
unlike some other cycle fashion retailers who's sample sales are shop only and you end up seeing it "BNWOT" at 400% increase from ebay the day after.............................

I also has the same issue with the trousers. Ended up getting a large, normally wear a medium, it was too big on the waist but legs were too skinny to move. I couldn't comfortably lift my knee up which is a bit of an error on cycling trousers...
It's a shame because I have the cotton rain shorts which I have in a large (they're a bit big but legs were comfier that way) and I love them and wear practically everyday.

Perhaps legs patterns are being cut around a fitting model who doesn't cycle?

I don't think I have particularly bulky legs for a cyclist, but I do struggle to buy trousers in the everyday high street shops which are perhaps designed for less muscular thighs?...

Well he's given everyone a 25% discount code to use, at least.

site down though...?

edit: just very very slow for me

Hi Mec, the legs patterns are definitely cut to cyclists because its a detail I obssess about and i test everything before it gets sign off (amongst the others). But there are different cuts for different body types. The Summer Trousers are slimmer than Jinzu Jeans for instance. If you prepared to share thigh circumference, waist and inside leg, I could tell you your leg shape and how it'd match up, but it'd be tiiiiny bit public! Email us on info@vulpine.cc and ask for me. I'll tell Dani.

The cyclical irony is the sample sale was so popular it crashed our server (despite increasing the damn thing, time for new provider), so I offered something to say sorry, which is so popular its crashing the damn server (as we can't change it overnight and I wanted to respond now). Sorry its a pain, hopefully people will form a nice gentle queue until we swap servers...Which is how it works, right?

No probs! It was a frustrating day for all. Learnt a lot though, if that's any consolation. #growingpains

Have you seen cyclists queue on the road, ever? Or do they all just demand to get to the front even when it means going up the left hand side of a left indicating truck?

Mmmnnnn, cynical. Sale doesn't happen due to traffic. Next day back to full price with maximum 25% off? When the day before up to 70% off was being offered.

Either that's poor planning or an inspired sales booster. Given that it'll be 'at least next year' before it's back on.

This.

Next day back to full price with maximum 25% off? When the day before up to 70% off was being offered.

Sample Sale vs 25% of AW2016.

Sample sale is a limited run of older items, end run, or new items not typically aiming to go to retail (i.e. used in product photos, prototypes, colour not quite right, etc).

AW2016 is their full price range.

Not sure which bit people don't seem to understand. One was "let's not lose money on this stuff", the other is a very definite "we'll give away a chunk of our profits for this season to put this right".

As for the website, all sites have trouble. For a crowd you're far more forgiving of me screwing this one up than you are of Vulpine, but the latter has people's livelihoods on the line, and yup... you're being way too cynical. Several of the people at CloudFlare wanted items from the sample sale, they saw it go down, and hey it's CloudFlare, so we took a look... the degradation of the server was typical for one that is under-powered for the task. Nothing untowards in the traffic... I feel for Nick and the team over there.

I've recommended to Nick that Vulpine should use Shopify for flash sales in future, I mean... if it's good enough that End Clothing use Shopify to survive a Kanye launch even though End Clothing's own tech own investment runs to tens of millions in their platform... then it's good enough to protect the existing store from a virtual stampede whilst they're increasing it's capacity.

When you say sample sale, what makes the stock 'samples'? Are they actual samples, or just stock you can't shift?

I'm not sure it's cynical - as I said earlier and Nick somewhat admitted, it doesn't look like things are going exactly as Vulpine intends. I would question the wisdom of holding a sample sale immediately after launching your new season's collection though.

Hi Orgazoid, your post is intriguing so I thought it was good to reply.
Sorry if you didn't like the GIF. I'm a non smoker by the way, in fact, I barely drink. I'm that dull.
It was a longer Summer Sale than I'd have liked, but it was all so insanely busy this summer, that I just let it run. I'm confused how it is disrespectful or harmful, but that's why I'm replying, so you can reply back.
With the sample sale, which I decided to do online after so many requests on social and emails, so that it was accessible to a large number of customers, ironically. I'm a bit thrown because nobody does anything with the intention of it going wrong (if anyone does, my advice is run away from them). It did go wrong, which wasn't immense fun to watch and try to sort, and I hate having any ill feeling. So I offered a discount, unplanned, to say sorry. You have to react to the real world, and hopefully customers will appreciate your honesty and trying. Growing a small business is beset with problems. Its how you react that marks you.
I am VERY interested in building a brand. A brand represents your values and how you are perceived. A brand isn't a cynical corporate marketing ploy (though it can be). A good, decent brand can be ferreted out by clued up consumers. Our customers aren't stupid, and can smell BS. There's a lot of it about, after all. I hate those fake, loveless brands, be it cars, insurance or artisanal fishcakes in Waitrose. Vulpine represents more than just making stuff to me. Its about quality, inclusivity, enjoyment, creativity, honesty and attention to detail, amongst many things. Its also the hardest thing I've ever done, and because of that, I care about it deeply.
The non-cyclist get rich bandwagon thing admittedly gets my goat, because I've been a passionate cyclist since I pleaded to start racing aged 13, back in the dark (nobody was into cycling then) days of 1986. Discounting is a pretty silly way to get rich quick, and I haven't made a profit yet (which is normal for my type of company, so I knew what I was getting into), 6 years after leaving my job, 4 years after launching, so, umm, yea!
I'm most concerned by the photo problem though. Do you mean the Paul Calver Prints? When did this happen? Can I help? I thought we were up to date, as I checked in just the other day. Apologies if something has gone wrong. Can you give more info?
I give a very flying one, risking everything, along with Emmalou, to create a company I love and love working on. Be Your Passion, as they say. I still can't get my head round how anything I/we do is disrespectful. We just make beautiful things, designed with love and care, that you can ignore if you want to. Its totally your choice. But I'm glad you're an owner.
Hopefully its evident that I'm honest and open, and if not, no probs, I can't win them all! wail - weep

Hi Seb. Vulpine was being pulled away from my original vision, so I changed lots in the Summer, such as online only. Right now the Sample Sale timing is quite simple. Lots of customers were very disappointed we did our last in London, and I want to do cool, new, exciting things here, but they need funding. So I held a sample sale of all the odds and ends that kick about an office, to get the last pips out of the orange, which I can now...Hang about, this analogy doesn't work....Anyway I can do cool stuff.
Running a business is never perfect! I'm just much much more open about the imperfections. To a fault? Probably because I want people to see we are real. Real things are imperfect. Its why corporations are so dull and full of BS. Because they have people who's job it is to bury anything except the grey thrum of nothingness, to say nothing, so we feel nothing, and thus we are rightly suspicious of them....No passion.
Interesting stuff. But rather than brand theorising, I better crack on. We are VERY busy! Eek.

would rep

I have some of the summer shorts and they are great, really comfy on long days in the saddle, I did go through returns process with some trousers during the last sale and although it took a few days I was pretty happy with the communication etc.

to echo a few previous statements, @vulpinecc coming on here and explaining things makes me much more likely to support the brand in the future, because he seems like a nice dude

Sample sale finished? Can not see it online anymore.

I love Vulpine products, but my rain jacket doesn't protect me from rain at all (like, not AT ALL) after less than 2 years.
I've tried washing it (non organic detergent) + tumble drying it, just as Vulpine recommends... but nothing changed.
I've bought Nikwax Cotton repoofer. Did not change anything.

I really love this jacket, but I stopped wearing it under the rain, which is a shame considering the pricetag and the name of the jacket :(

What about you "rain jackets" owners (mine is the "original" but the harrington is made with the same "epic cotton" fabric) ?

Didn't prevent me from buying other Vulpine stuff though ;)

My Harrington is left well alone if it looks a bit drizzly out, it doesn't get used much in Manchester.

Sample sale is a limited run of older items, end run, or new items not typically aiming to go to retail (i.e. used in product photos, prototypes, colour not quite right, etc).

Sample sale seems to be used here now/more as super-discount. It's not "sample" like odd pieces, prototypes etc but rather all main stock stuff at very discounted prices.

How did it work when you asked for £500k but got £1m on that crowdfunding website? Did you have to give up twice as much of the equity?

I'm thinking of crowd funding my awesome getrichquick idea (it's a secret, before you ask, but it's not making clothes for grumpy, cynical cyclists so you needn't fear the competition) but it's such a brilliant idea I'm nervous I'll be inundated.

Hi Mec, the legs patterns are definitely cut to cyclists because its a detail I obssess about and i test everything before it gets sign off (amongst the others). But there are different cuts for different body types. The Summer Trousers are slimmer than Jinzu Jeans for instance.

Don't know what generation the rain trousers I have were, maybe v1. But, knee circumference reducing from 46 to 40cm on a Large, "cut for cycling". Actually curious what your feedback has been on this updated cut. How do you test it. I'm totally fine if I'm an outlier, but I find it hard to believe that I am.

Really, I'd like to hear that the updated cut was a non-flyer and that next season you will be returning to trousers that women can actually bend their knees in (useful for cycling), because I might actually buy some then. Also, at first I was super sceptical of the button tab waist adjuster things, but the ability to not have to wear a belt is really great. Just saying.

Porsche buying consultant?