“I think we all feel that there’s a revolution happening in the wearables space, and perhaps it hasn’t been as exciting as it is now since the 2000s,” Ross says. “I’m fascinated by this sense of self-development, where some particular faculties of luxury have to be earned more, so grouping tools to help enhance that process was quite a natural fusing of interests. It’s an intersection of design, weaving, technology, and luxury fashion, and these products are an extension of how we live. We’re simply broadening their form and really answering the needs we see within the market at this point with people and their health.”
Wearable health trackers are divided into two main groups: wristworn devices and smart rings. The main challenge the crowded sector faces is form — while devices have gradually gotten smaller since the first smartwatches and rings were released a decade ago, they’re by no means discreet. Wearing one is a statement that seems to carry equal amounts of positive or negative weight, depending on one’s social and style circles. When most of Whoop’s competitors are quizzed on how they’re tackling the challenge of designing a device with good enough aesthetics to be more universally accepted, they say they’re focusing on different colorways and making their devices smaller and smaller over time.
So far, Whoop is the first wearables brand to launch clothing, because it doesn’t want to be confined to a band that many consumers don’t want to wear. The next challenge is designing garments consumers do want to wear — something Ahmed is well aware of — which is the motivation behind the collaboration with Ross and SR_A.
“I think it’s easy to make the mistake of saying, ‘Oh, because we’ve developed this cool technology, everyone’s going to want to wear our boxers or our shorts.’ But the reality is, those need to stand alone as great pieces of apparel, and you’re competing with the best apparel brands in the world when you put out a pair of shorts,” Ahmed says. “So what we’ve done with Samuel is to say, ‘We want this to be exciting and beautiful in its own right.’ And yes, of course, but in addition to that, you can now take your Whoop and wear it around your waist. We think this has to perform at the highest level from both a design and technology standpoint.”
Ross’s first collection for the Project Terrain collaboration features recognizable design codes for those familiar with A-Cold-Wall, as well as his brand’s collaborations with luxury and performancewear players like Nike, Diesel, and Oakley. Streetwear and performancewear form equal inspiration, with welding throughout technical nylon garments, laser perforation for breathability, and lightweight outerwear pieces with retractable hoods, which Ross says are geared toward customers who want to wear the pieces on their trail runs, just as much as city dwellers on their coffee runs.