In 2016, Wayne Borromeo, an avid climber and adventure guide, noticed a problem in the outdoor sportswear market: nearly all of the major clothing retailers targeted male consumers. Borromeo, then 25, saw that the trend contributed to the country’s yawning “nature gap”, which he understood well through leading hiking, backpacking and rock climbing expeditions to outdoor meccas like the Yosemite and Zion national parks. So in a broom closet in his San Fernando valley home, along with his friend Kimberley Esliza, Borromeo created Wondery, one of the only outdoor apparel brands dedicated exclusively to women, particularly women of color.
“A lot of my core memories and emotions stem from the outdoors,” Borromeo said, noting that one of his fondest experiences was taking his dog, Luca, for a swim in the Kern River. He recalled the vast, serene mountainscapes that surrounded them and rendered him motionless. “I want other people to experience that too.”
Due to discrimination and ongoing financial barriers, women tend to shy away from outdoor activities more and more as they age. Nearly 60% of girls between the ages of six and 12 participate in outdoor recreation, but the figure declines steadily through their teenage and adult years. Only 20% of women in their 60s enjoy outdoor recreation, according to a 2018 report by the Outdoor Foundation. The racial outdoors gap is even more stark: 70% of national parks visitors are white, even though people of color comprise 40% of the US population.
To address these disparities, Borromeo’s company (his co-founder has since left the company) releases seasonal collections of stylish athleisure wear and accessories and hosts monthly community programs – including backpacking workshops, hiking retreats and introductory climbing meet-ups. Ticket prices are heavily subsidized or waived for qualifying low-income individuals. A percentage of Wondery’s sales revenue goes toward local groups working to diversify outdoor spaces, such as Black Girls Trekkin’ and the Lagartijas climbing crew, which hosts meets for Latino members at climbing gyms and crags across the Los Angeles area.
“Our core mission was always that we must make an impact on any marginalized community,” said Borromeo, who is Filipino with Chinese and Spanish heritage.
His company now employs nearly 20 people. All but one – Borromeo – are women. Wondery’s product lines, from the size-inclusive Isabella utility pants to a line of water bottles engraved with logos of the 50 states, are frequently on backorder. Local female climbers can often be seen wearing Wondery’s items on Instagram, the result of the brand’s collaboration efforts.
We spoke with Borromeo, now the president of Wondery, along with the company’s community director, Lydia Mok, and director of operations, Nina Bhatia, about their dream of transforming the Los Angeles-based startup into the country’s go-to women’s outdoor brand.
How did you get the idea for Wondery?
Borromeo: Back when we started seven years ago, we saw there were so many men’s outdoor brands. Even going camping and climbing, there are so many opportunities for men, brands that are catered for men. We just thought: why aren’t there more brands centered on women? So we thought: let’s do this, let’s provide women the opportunity to go outside.
What were those first days and months like?
Borromeo: We literally started in a broom closet. We put up some storage shelves and made 20 or 30 graphics. Kimberley and I came up with some ideas; she fed those to me and I’d put them on a shirt. I found someone I went to school with to help fund the business, and I also went to my mom, who has always been supportive in everything I do. It’s my first business, and there was a lot of trial and error in making apparel when you’ve never done it before.
What are some barriers preventing women and people of color from exploring the outdoors?
Mok: Extreme sports, or outdoor sports in general, have always had this stereotype of being a crazy “white people” thing. I did a solo road trip to Colorado: you have to think about safe spaces to stop at. The outdoors can be fun and liberating and there’s a lot of healing that goes on. So to reclaim that for Bipoc people is really powerful.
Borromeo: It’s so expensive to get outdoors even though it should be free. It’s harder for Bipoc individuals to get to a place where they have excess income to spend on activities like climbing a rock. I grew up in a predominantly white neighborhood, and went to a high school that’s 95% white. I had to code-switch to blend in: I had to pretend to like sports. I didn’t realize how important representation is. Whether it’s being of color or being a woman, or of a different sexual orientation – it’s so important to have a community where you can be yourself.
What was your marketing strategy for entering a crowded field of established brands?
Borromeo: Part of the strategy to get traction in the climbing community was to be where they were: in climbing gyms. So that’s who we’re targeting and now more than ever. We used influencer marketing to get our designs out into the world.
What is the thinking behind your emphasis on community programming?
Bhatia: Providing a safe place for people of color is a huge priority for us. That’s why we have events geared toward the LGBTQ community. We’re doing our best to provide inclusive sizing [from x-small to xxx-large] and picking gender-neutral colors. Getting outdoors is something we practice internally as well. It’s awesome to see that climbing gyms, for example, are so much more diverse now than when we started.
Mok: We partner with non-profits and community groups on the philanthropy side. I’m part of Bipoc outdoor groups where you’re not being constantly asked questions about your gender or sexuality, where you’re being allowed to exist and enjoy yourself outdoors, not having to relive trauma stories. So we want to create more spaces like that.
What’s next for Wondery?
Borromeo: Our goal is to become the women’s outdoor brand. I want people from underrepresented communities to go out on a trail and be able to say, “Oh! She’s wearing Wondery pants.” Or “That’s a Wondery jacket!”
