Mt. Lassen Volcanic National Park is where I grew up and learned to appreciate and respect the mountains, wilderness and nature.
While in silence in a Lassen meadow my first creative inspiration was born and continues to be the source of my creative inspiration. I retreat to Lassen’s mountain meadows every year to experience nature’s gifts and her abundance of creative offerings.
It is a pleasure to share my vision of the mountains and nature through a means of artistry which has been inspired by Mt. Lassen’s innate beauty and elegance.
Thank you for inviting Wilss into your lifestyle.
Thank you and Enjoy
-Wilss
Designed in the Mountains and Defined By Nature
When my brother, sister and I were young children, my parents bought a cabin for us all in Mill Creek, California which is just few miles from Mt. Lassen Volcanic National park in Northern California.
The cabin became our year round weekend getaway and was my introduction to nature and the mountains. Lassen Park and its surrounding peaks and forest was where I learned to ski, fly fish, cowboy and run while simply enjoying nature.
We all personally experienced what “becoming one with nature” meant to us independently but most importantly we learned to leave it the same way we found it.
I would look at a mountain range or a silhouette of a peak which looked liked a line drawing from a distance and want to run the mountains edge. Which I did and still do.
I told my mom as a ten year old boy that I wanted to design my own clothes and travel the world.
Years later and with that goal in mind I starting designing sweaters.
Why sweaters? (Well that is another story)
I studied fashion and textiles at FIT in New York. I then went into the corporate world of product development and sourcing. My world wide travels allowed me to be exposed to the most modern technology in machinery, fabric and yarn but also learning generations of factory knowledge and best practices first hand.
The inspiration for the Wilss brand was and is based on the core running essentials for year round running which arehats, gloves and socks. The original goal was to design product that would perform to anyone’s preference and standard.
I started observing what my running and cycling buddies were wearing and started asking them what they liked in performance, weight, comfort and aesthetics. At the same time, I wanted to build something that I liked too.
So, I built it and started wear trials and field testing with all of my buddies over the period of a few years.
As a result of lot’s of trials and miles, they all wanted more.
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