It’s never been easier to save the environment while looking great in colorful, Hinduism-inspired yoga pants. With its recently launched Kickstarter campaign, Chakra Fitwear hopes to fund a line of eco-friendly active wear to continue making the earth a cleaner and greener place while empowering women.
Launched Nov. 20, the startup seeks to raise $80,000 to cover manufacturing costs of six different types of athletic pants and leggings, all of which use materials from plastic water bottles that could have otherwise polluted the environment or contributed to the deaths of marine life.
Co-founders and Drexel seniors Erin Moffitt and Ashley Revay seek to go beyond helping the environment by using the line as a platform to inspire and empower women everywhere. They say the pants represent the cofounders’ belief that all women, no matter what their size, age, or skin color, are beautiful, strong and smart individuals who are capable of doing anything they set their minds to.
“With body image disorders at an all time high, it has become increasingly more important to reaffirm to women that they are beautiful, despite what they see in popular magazines,” said Moffitt, a student in Drexel’s LeBow College of Business and Close School of Entrepreneurship.
The eye-catching pants draw inspiration from Hinduism; the print of one pant resembles Henna hand-drawing and another pant displays all seven chakras running up the back of the leg. Depending on the styles, the athletic wear will cost between $55 and $65.
“We like to keep it at a lower cost rather than your Lululemon or higher brands that are $85 to $95 dollars. Because we are students, we want a quality pant but we don’t want to pay outrageous prices,” said Revay, an accounting and entrepreneurship major with a minor in environmental science at Drexel.
Both students are involved in fitness and exercise together: Moffitt is a certified personal trainer and spin instructor, and Revay got the idea to use recycled plastic water bottles after running the Philly 5K for Clean Air and receiving shirts made of recycled material. But their additional outside interests also contributed to the founding of Chakra.
Revay’s eco-friendly influence spawned from another startup she co-founded, Babylon Gardens, that creates sustainable home aquaponic systems producing fresh produce that are pesticide, herbicide and GMO free. Moffitt has volunteered with the Girls Inc. Organization of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey and was interested in working to empower and improve the lives of girls and women everywhere.
To promote their brand, Revay and Moffitt have hosted sponsorships and fundraisers within the Philadelphia fitness community and held a booth at the recent Philadelphia Marathon. Before the Kickstarter campaign, they had been financing their project through bootstrapping efforts.
