A luxury outdoor fashion brand inspired by Sir Edmund Hillary is looking to raise $3 million to expand overseas and fund a women’s range.
Edmund Hillary Brands, which was co-founded with the Hillary family in 2018, launched an equity crowdfunding campaign on UK crowdfunding platform Crowdcube on Monday.
Co-founder and CEO Mike Hall-Taylor said the brand aims to build on the momentum it has experienced since debuting its first collection last year.
“We’ve received an overwhelming response to our first collection since launch last year and we want to maintain the momentum and capitalise on immediate opportunities in the UK, US, China and Australia as well as meet the demand from consumers for a women’s range,” Hall-Taylor said in a statement.
While the brand expects to attract a number of larger investors, the minimum investment was deliberately kept at $23 to be accessible to New Zealanders who are interested.
At the time of this writing, Edmund Hillary Brands had raised £82,728, or roughly $160,000, from 53 investors, bringing it 16 per cent of the way to its target. The campaign ends on July 24.
Edmund Hillary Brands has enjoyed some early successes since launching in 2018, including a global debut at New Zealand Fashion Week, the opening of a standalone store at Queenstown airport, a global e-commerce site and partnerships with two supporting retailers.
The brand has also formed a distribution partnership with a major e-commerce platform in China, where it will launch in September, ahead of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
The brand’s debut collection was inspired by the classic styles worn by Sir Edmund Hillary and the expedition team. Designers poured over more than 2000 images of the 1953 expedition when developing the range.
In addition to the brand’s connection with Sir Edmund Hillary’s style, a percentage of every sale goes to support Himalayan communities and outdoor education.
“Apart from being an exciting financial investment, it also represents the opportunity to be part of continuing my father’s legacy with a portion of every sale going to the causes close to Ed’s heart – supporting Himalayan communities and outdoor education in our key markets,” Peter Hillary, co-founder of the brand, said in a statement.
