I’m rummaging through my old Gmail records looking for traces of “Silverback Apparel” and found several emails dating back to 2007 and 2008.
The next instance was pretty recent, when Jonathan Oullet contacted me saying I kind of helped inspire him to start a company.
However I’d like to tell you another quick story before we proceed (don’t worry, it all goes together):
My Downtown roommate kept talking about manufacturer high end and sweat proof undershirts as a business….and I immediately raised a crooked eyebrow at the idea. However he CONSTANTLY talked about it and researched getting shirts made with silver thread (or something like that) which reduces bacteria, smells, sweat etc etc…and even “double fabric armpits” and all sorts of odd features. (This is seriously a true story).
So one day I sat down with him and did some quick competitive research (aka I Google’d it). We came across very few places that had anything like he wanted to make, except one: Silverback Apparel. It was kind of an “Awww-shit” moment for my roommate who realized someone had beat him to the punch.
Nevertheless he was glad such a product existed and wanted to buy some.
I still thought anyone so interested in sweat-proof undershirts was INSANE.
Annnnyyywaaysss….
About one week after we realized some guy had already made these shirts, Jonathan Oullet left some comments on NevBlog and contacted me via email about his company I “partially” inspired…SILVERBACK APPAREL! He designed and manufactured these super-high-end undershirts and was selling them to really high end stores.
I was flabbergasted I had TWO nutjobs in my life that were obsessed with sweat proof undershirts! <— awww…link love.
A few emails later and Jonathan sent me some samples of these undershirts. I honestly didn’t think I’d be impressed.
I WAS WRONG!!
I’m LOVING THESE SHIRTS! You see, I live in Austin, TX. and it’s hot as hell during the summer. On some days, even just walking around my back tends to sweat through my shirt. In fact I don’t wear colors like blue so I don’t get massive sweat stains all over my shirt.
The first time I wore one of these undershirts, I just wore it around as a t-shirt to do errands. I got in my car (which had been parked in the blazing sun) the whole day and did all my errands. I noticed something weird: My back wasn’t sweating like it normally does. My (under)shirt also didn’t feel dirty like most shirts do after walking around on a hot day.
Maybe all the bamboo and silver thread the shirt was made of actually worked? I also noticed the armpits were double-fabric, as well as the entire back of the shirt (so even when I did sweat I couldn’t feel it AT ALL on the back of the shirt)! I didn’t realize at first how many “extra features” this shirt had. It also just felt really damn comfortable. I also would brag to friends, “I’m wearing a $60 undershirt!” ($50 plus shipping for the high end stuff).
This post wasn’t a paid post, I just genuinely like the product Jonathan created.
This is why I risk posting biz information on this blog even though some people might copy it. I think it’s hella cool he got at least SOME inspiration to start a business from me. Kind of makes me feel all warm inside (but NOT sweaty!) <–wow…that was a lame joke.