We saw the options for affordable area-reflective clothing, and knew we could do better, so we did. Read more
We saw the options for affordable area-reflective clothing, and knew we could do better, so we did.
About this project
Before we even hit the drawing board, we spent a great deal of time investigating existing reflective products to figure out what was missing and what we could improve. We consistently found that the price point for reflective garments in the performance-wear market were unreasonably high. Safety and style should be made affordable and accessible to everyone. Realizing that there was a gap in the market, we decided to start RA Reflective. Being a vertically integrated company with forward thinking allows us to develop modern styles with the highest-quality fabrics.
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You will be able to choose your size(s) and design(s) towards the beginning of May. We will be sending out the survey approximately two weeks after the April 19th deadline.
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THANKS TO YOU, WE ARE GOING TO HAVE A FULL SIZE RANGE FOR ALL OUR JACKETS AND VESTS
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Hey everyone, Andrew here. I am the creative director and the other co-founder of RA Reflective and I realized that we need one more goal to make things even better!!!
Elton has been living in a cave since we started RA, and I know he would greatly appreciate it if we can come together and push for reaching $30,000 in pledges so he can get a great dinner. We do have another great set of news that we would like to reveal once we reach that goal so stay tuned!
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Product Videos
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In the field of Personal Protective Equipment, RA is actually an abbreviation for the Coefficient of Retroreflection. RA could also be an acronym for Reflective Apparel. But, none of that really matters. All you need to know is that our garments are really bright.
We can say with confidence that there is no other product on the market that can compare with what we have to offer. The level of quality we provide at our price point is unparalleled.
We challenge you to find another jacket of the same caliber.
COMPARISON Neon Shirt VS. Reflect Jacket
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The Reflect Jacket is designed for temperate cycling conditions, cool morning starts, descents and sudden showers. Rear vents have been positioned to improve range of movement across the back of the shoulders.
Sleek aesthetics by day, and optimal visibility by night.
Key features:
- Light and breathable fabric
- Water-repellent treatment
- Wind-resistant
- Water-resistant zips
- Long-cut back for bike position
- Ninja Grips for added warmth and preventing entry of wind
- Cross ventilation system for optimal breathability when you need it
- Quick dry
- Packable hood
- Zipped hidden rear pocket
- Zipped hidden side pockets
- Inner pocket
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Engineered using the same materials as the Reflect Jacket, this vest is the ideal outer shell for milder weather conditions.
Key features:
- Light and breathable fabric
- Water-repellent treatment
- Wind-resistant
- Water-resistant zips
- Long-cut back for bike position
- Reflective hood
- Inner Pocket
- Zipped rear pocket
- Zipped side pockets
- Zipped outer chest pocket
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The Reflect Jacket WMNS is designed for temperate cycling conditions, cool morning starts, descents and sudden showers. Rear and front vents have been positioned to improve range of movement across the back.
Sleek aesthetics by day, and optimal visibility by night.
Key features:
- Light and breathable fabric
- Water-repellent treatment
- Wind-resistant
- Water-resistant zips
- Long-cut back for bike position
- Ninja Grips for added warmth and preventing entry of wind
- Cross ventilation system
- Quick Dry
- Packable hood
- Zipped hidden rear pocket
- Zipped hidden side pockets
- Two invisible outer chest pockets
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Engineered using the same materials as the Reflect Jacket WMNS, this vest is the ideal outer shell for milder weather conditions.
Key features:
- Light and breathable fabric
- Water-repellent treatment
- Wind-resistant
- Water-resistant zips
- Long-cut back for bike position
- Reflective hood
- Zipped rear pocket
- Two zipped side pockets
- Two invisible zipped chest pockets
- Highly reflective
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THE TEAM STORY
It all began while I was watching the movie Tron. Seriously, those user suits and light cycles are awesome. Unfortunately, there are no light-up jackets on the market at an affordable price range, that I liked and could be worn in a casual setting. With my extensive knowledge in reflective textiles and clothing manufacturing, I knew I could top everything out there on the market, but I also knew I couldn’t do it alone, so I took it upon myself to create the ULTIMATE team…
Team RA... Assemble!
Elton King Co-founder: Head of Development and Production
I’m a boss.
Andrew Nguyen Co-founder: Creative Director
This is the guy to turn to if you want to get the latest trends in fashion. The only thing that can exceed his knowledge of style is his passion for creating mens activewear. His extensive fashion design experience, keen sense for brand development, coupled with his vast knowledge of the market is why he is such a vital key to our success.
Kisa Shiga: Design Head and Patternmaker
Our women's line is just a small demonstration of Kisa's outstanding sense of design and functionality. For the past two years at school she has been focusing on menswear. Her personal aesthetic is quite playful and imaginative and she always strives to ground all her work in clever, clean and functional design. She will be graduating from RISD with a BFA in Apparel Design this spring.
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BACKER REWARDS
Kickstarter EARLYBIRD promotional prices
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SCIENCE BEHIND THE FABRIC
SIZE CHARTS
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Why we need your support:
Designing new garments and developing new materials can get complicated. It involves a significant amount of time and investment for tools and prototypes. The Reflect technology we created is normally an expensive luxury that is not readily available to everyone. It is our dream to make this technology more affordable and accessible, so that more people can use it. With your help we can further develop new fabrics and styles to meet your everyday needs.
Special Thanks To:
Photographers: Julia Wang and Mary W. King
The Most Beautiful Model Ever: Paige Babilonia
Videographer: Crisanto Jorda
Assistant Animator: W. Justin King
Video Production Assistants: LA Hall and Adrian Agbanlog
Assistant Editor: Christine Y. Lee
Branding Inspiration : Shutian Chan (RISD)
Social Media Marketing Team: Garland Yan and Caity Law
Risks and challenges
Our biggest challenge thus far has been getting a large scale production for our reflective knit beanies. Due to the unique properties, they require special handling in the knitting process making it complicated to construct. If we are able to find a solution for making our yarn work on an industrial knit machine, then we we will be able to significantly lower the price of the beanies, making them accessible to everyone.
As for our jackets and vests, we have an established four year relationship with our manufacturer, so we can vouch for their commitment to producing the highest quality pieces. Once our goal has been reached, we will immediately begin production, whether the project has finished or not. Since our reflective fabric is all developed in house and we already sourced all our trims, we are confident in our ability to maintain a timely production.
That being said, there are always inherent challenges that may delay the process. We will communicate with both our backers and our manufacturers throughout the campaign to help make sure that the fulfillment timeline stays on schedule.
Learn about accountability on KickstarterFAQ
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The reflective fabric works the same way as a reflective construction vest would work. The retroreflective surface of the fabric will send the light directly back to its source. You can observe this quality in the fabric by holding a flashlight next to your eye. This simulates the headlights of a car when sitting in the driver seat.
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As of now, we are only able to manufacture this jacket in the color grey, however with enough funding we will eventually be able to add more colors and sizes.
The beanie is currently only in the color black, however with enough funding we will be able to make a wider variety of colors. Since they are being hand made in the USA, it will be easier for us to provide a wider variety of colors.
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No. In most situations, our reflective fabric will appear to be just normal fabric.
The way retroreflective fabric works, it reflects light back towards the source from which it came. In order to see the flash effect of the fabric, it requires you to look at the fabric at specific range of observation angles in respect to the source of light.
Fortunately, drivers seats position our eyes at ideal observation angles to perceive the flash effect of retroreflective garments.
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When wearing one of our jackets or vests in the pitch black night, you would be visible to a driver from distances as great as 140 meters or more.
That is equivalent to 1.5 American football fields.
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No. The jacket and vest are separate products.
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Yes. The jacket and vest are both machine washable, and have great durability.
Just flip the jacket inside out, and use cold water.
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The hats are currently being hand made here in the USA. That is why they are so expensive.
The jackets and vests are being manufactured in Shanghai. That is the only way we are able to provide these garments at such a low price.
Our minimalistic design is actually very complicated to construct. Manufacturing one jacket in America would cost $350 dollars per jacket, not including materials. The retail price would be ridiculous.
Rewards
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Pledge $1 or more
13 backers All gone!
You get a personal thank you on Twitter/Facebook!
Estimated delivery: -
Pledge $1 or more
6 backers
REFLECTIVE STICKERS
Two stickers will be included with every pledge.
Estimated delivery:Ships anywhere in the world -
Pledge $59 or more
4 backers All gone!
Reflect | Beanie Limited Edition - They look like normal beanies, but are actually fully reflective.
You won’t be able to find a beanie like this anywhere. They are all hand made, so we can only do a limited production run.
Estimated delivery:Ships anywhere in the world -
Pledge $69 or more
10 backers All gone!
Reflect | Beanie Limited Edition
This is the same beanie as the $59 beanie.
We are not making any money off of these beanies. With our current accommodations, they are taking too much time to make. We are just offering them because we think they are really cool. That said, we will be raising the pledge amount for this item every time they sell out, so get them quickly!Estimated delivery:Ships anywhere in the world -
Pledge $95 or more
15 backers All gone!
Reflect | Vest
You get the Men’s or Women’s Reflect Vest.Check out our feature videos to see them in more detail!
Estimated delivery:Ships anywhere in the world -
Pledge $110 or more
36 backers Limited (4 left of 40)
REFLECT VEST ($160 Retail Value) You get the Men’s or Women’s Reflect Vest. Check out our feature videos to see them in more detail!
Estimated delivery:Ships anywhere in the world -
Pledge $150 or more
10 backers All gone!
Reflect | Vest + Beanie You get the Men's or Women's Reflect Vest and the Reflect Beanie
Estimated delivery:Ships anywhere in the world -
Pledge $170 or more
3 backers Limited (2 left of 5)
REFLECT VEST AND BEANIE ($235 Retail Value) You get the Men's or Women's Reflect Vest and the Reflect Beanie
Estimated delivery:Ships anywhere in the world -
Pledge $175 or more
16 backers All gone!
Reflect | Jacket
You get the Men’s or Women’s Reflect Jacket.Check out our feature videos to see them in more detail!
Estimated delivery:Ships anywhere in the world -
Pledge $195 or more
26 backers Limited (4 left of 30)
REFLECT JACKET ($260 Retail Value) You get the Men’s or Women’s Reflect Jacket. Check out our feature videos to see them in more detail!
Estimated delivery:Ships anywhere in the world -
Pledge $230 or more
10 backers All gone!
Reflect | Jacket + Beanie Combo You get both the jacket and beanie for Men or Women.
Estimated delivery:Ships anywhere in the world -
Pledge $255 or more
1 backer Limited (4 left of 5)
REFLECT JACKET AND BEANIE COMBO ($335 Retail Value) You get both the jacket and beanie for Men or Women.
Estimated delivery:Ships anywhere in the world -
Pledge $260 or more
21 backers Limited (4 left of 25)
Reflect | Vest + Jacket
You get both the vest and jacket for Men or Women.
Estimated delivery:Ships anywhere in the world -
Pledge $290 or more
0 backers Limited (5 left of 5)
REFLECT JACKET AND VEST COMBO ($420 Retail Value)
Estimated delivery:Ships anywhere in the world -
Pledge $315 or more
10 backers All gone!
Reflect | Vest + Jacket + Beanie
You get the full package.
Estimated delivery:Ships anywhere in the world -
Pledge $355 or more
2 backers Limited (3 left of 5)
REFLECT VEST + JACKET + BEANIE ($495 Retail Value) You get the full package.
Estimated delivery:Ships anywhere in the world -
Pledge $360 or more
1 backer Limited (4 left of 5)
TWO REFLECT JACKETS ($520 Retail Value) You get the two Reflect Jackets, for men or women.
Estimated delivery:Ships anywhere in the world -
Pledge $10,000
0 backers Limited (1 left of 1)
We will make you a completely customized special edition jacket and vest using our specialized fabric. Whatever you want.
Estimated delivery:Ships anywhere in the world
Funding period
- (45 days)