Posted in: Innovation

Lamina GTX Ladies Development story

Designed by dialogueIt all starts with empathy at REV’IT!. However, recognizing a certain need alone is not enough; it takes understanding, and it takes both craftsmanship and skill to then meet that need. To get from recognition to understanding, empathy is crucial, however, sometimes there’s a limit to what the empathy and understanding of one man can accomplish.

That realization led our lead adventure gear designer on the Lamina GTX Ladies project, Rod, to rethink his role. Because, as a male designer – even with his knowledge and skill – he would still be limited in his ability to physically understand what it takes to craft the perfect-fitting motorcycle garment for women. Recognizing a need and understanding something has to change, is empathy too, especially if it can’t come from you.

The birth of any new product at REV’IT! begins with a need

We hear, and we listen

The birth of any new product at REV’IT! begins with that need, voiced by you – the #revitrider. We like to believe we’re good at hearing you but even better at listening. From messages we receive from you to our ambassadors, providing us regular feedback and talking them through design decisions we made, circling back to new designs from there, “design by dialogue” we call it.

Lately, those voices have gotten louder, and the message is clear. Female adventure travel riders have been expressing a real need for a more sophisticated fit and more refined outfit overall.

Challenging the limits of design

We’ve been designing all the products we make in both men’s and women’s version with a specific fit for each sex – by no means are our Ladies’ editions simply shrunken male styles. They’re based on distinct design patterns to assure a cut that literally fits the female physique, regardless of what it is.

However, though our garments are appreciated for their fit – or so we hear, of course – you weren’t content just yet and the solutions you called for challenge the limits of our current design and development process. Time to call in the cavalry.

Designing in three dimensions instead of the regular two

“We’re gonna need a bigger… team”

The eventual design and development team, very fittingly, consisted of almost exclusively women – tasked with creating the quintessential female adventure travel outfit. The team at REV’IT! HQ was joined by Swedish fit and pattern specialist, Elisabet, and lead design handpicked pattern designer, Alicia, to collaborate. Elisabet and Alicia allowed the team to go beyond the average, beyond those limits Rod had found himself at odds with.

Elisabet and Alicia are skilled in their crafts, and both are avid riders, too. Experienced in designing clothing specifically for wheelchair users, Alicia added intricate insights; how to design a fit that’s comfortable all day, even in the inherently slightly awkward, upright position you need in adventure travel. And to one-up the project again, Elisabet helped move the pattern design from the drawing board straight to the mannequin, crafting the shapes, lines, and proportions directly onto a bust, in three dimensions instead of the just two.

Bringing a blank-sheet design to life

Combining those defining changes in the pattern and fit with a very clean take on a hard-shell design that’s common in winter sports and the outdoor scene, the task then fell on product development, with Senior Product Developer Marjon taking the perfected shape and design of the Lamina GTX Ladies and develop it into the final product, with the best possible fabrics, weatherproofing, and impact protection.

Obtain whatever adventure travel goal you could be chasing.And then some.

From the obvious choice of using waterproof, laminated GORE-TEX, and a 100% waterproof zipper from industry leaders TIZIP®, to waterproof ventilation zippers assuring the weather’s never an issue – with the hard-shell design made to use with base and mid layers, to adjust to temperatures as you go. Impact protection came in the form of our proprietary CE-level 2 SEEFLEX armor lining the limbs, nearly unnoticeable CE-level 1 SEESMART hugging the hips, and our well-vented CE-level 2 SEESOFT AIR back protector bringing up the rear.

We started the project that would eventually become the Lamina GTX Ladies to offer you the ideal garment solution to obtain whatever adventure travel goal you could be chasing, and then some. To offer opportunity; a chance to dream of new highs and previously unexplored destinations and experiences.

To inspire to ride. Beyond the average.

Get to know all the REV’IT! Riders

Johnny Lewis is just one of a select group of riders that represents the REV’IT! brand in top-level racing series all over the world, including MotoGP, WorldSBK, MotoAmerica, and more. Get to know all the passionate, professional athletes in the REV’IT! racing family.