Maidstone-based SQI is focused on using recycled materials to create its skiwear-streetwear crossover

“Sustainability wasn’t an optional extra for us. I feel, particularly in fashion, it is a prerequisite to doing business. And you’re either going to be ahead of the curve or playing catch-up from the start.”

Get the aircon on super-low and hang the Alpine Blast car scent tree round your neck… you could almost be on the slopes of Val Thorens sipping a glühwein. OK, maybe not, but a brand from Maidstone is setting about rewriting the skiwear playbook with a new range of jackets that are eco-friendly, affordable and offer more use than that one week back in 2003.

“I was going on a ski holiday and was in the market for a new jacket,” says SQI founder Freddy Hoare (@wearesqi). “I had about £200 to spend and I thought if I’m going to part with this much cash, I want to get more use out of it than just one week a year.

“So it’s almost single-use, single-purpose clothing. And I just do not believe that is the most sustainable way of doing things. I also didn’t feel from a style and technical function point of view that there was a product that really bridged this gap between piste and pavement – I thought I either had to get a very technical ski jacket or a very trendy high-street winter coat.

“[I wanted] a hoodie-style jacket that blurred the lines between skiwear, streetwear and sportswear… I didn’t feel there was anything out there on the market.”

While Freddy studied business at university, manufacturing and textiles were a little off-piste and so a call-out for help on LinkedIn came to the rescue quicker than a St Bernard.

“I put a post out saying essentially something along the lines of ‘Hey, I’m designing a new skiwear jacket’. And I used a few hashtags,” explains Freddy. “And just by chance someone must have stumbled upon one of those hashtags and commented on the post.”

That someone fortunately used to work in the product design and supply chain at Arc’Teryx, one of the largest North American skiwear and outerwear brands.

“They’d recently just left their role to go and begin their own agency. So we were almost kind of the guinea-pig client and I learned so much about how the whole process works, product design, sourcing fabrics, fit, tech pack, suppliers, logistics, supply chain, all of these different things.”

Freddy was determined to design the jacket from scratch and not just take an existing product off the shelf and whack a logo on it – this opened the opportunity to explore creating an environmentally-friendly solution.

“From the start that was just not negotiable,” says Freddy. “Our product philosophy [for SQI] is sustainability, quality and innovation, in that order.

“And that’s the mindset and approach we take to designing all of our products: sustainability has to come first.”

The waterproof, wind-resistant outer shell of the jackets is made using recycled plastic bottles, while the quilted inner lining is made using 150 grams of recycled polyester.

“It was tricky as a small start-up with a limited budget that can’t go and meet suppliers during an international pandemic. However, I think we’ve done the best job that we possibly can. And we’re better than a lot of much bigger, more established skiwear and fashion brands that have much bigger budgets for research and development of sustainable fabrics.

“Sustainability wasn’t an optional extra for us. I feel, particularly in fashion, it is a prerequisite to doing business. And you’re either going to be ahead of the curve or playing catch-up from the start. And I knew which side of the coin I’d rather be on.”

While SQI still sells direct to consumers from its website and warehouse bases in Maidstone, the threat of Omicron last Christmas put paid to many of its sales as people cancelled their January skiing holidays. They are now working with several independent ski and snowboard gear retailers across the UK and Ireland.

They also have their branded skis, snowboards and beanies available online, but it is certainly the jacket that is the centrepiece.

Complete with detachable faux fur lining on the hood, the jacket is reversible and produced in four colours: V∅lCaЙIK, Forêt, DEZЭ’RT and ôSHun – we can all see where they’re going with this.

“That was just a bit of fun, to be honest,” says Freddy. “I think particularly being a ski brand, you’re so exposed to nature being out there kind of on top of a mountain, it just gives you a genuinely unique perspective of the world. You think about nature and the world and the earth and all things like that. And so we’re just kind of playing around with some element names for the colours of each jacket.”

Freddy himself is a ‘casual skier’, or someone who goes every few years, and that’s who SQI will be initially targeting

“I guess that’s why we wanted to involve streetwear sportswear in the brand as well, because it’s not just a ski jacket. It’s for people who will go skiing, but more importantly they get use out of it elsewhere.”

INFO: wearesqi.com