Have you ever struggled to find an item of clothing for an event, finally settling on something that doesn’t fit right or gives you that awkward “people are looking at me” feel? As women with unique body shapes and sizes, I’m sure we can all say it’s happened to us at least once in our life. Now imagine if you had to wear that too big or too small piece of clothing every day. That’s what it can be like for so many women working in industries where their body types aren’t catered for on their uniform list.
Working in any kind of industrial or heavy-duty trade means that safe and site-compliant PPE must always be worn. The Lucille 4-in-1 Jacket came to life as the solution to working women’s frustration in finding a hi vis jacket for the colder months, that didn’t completely weigh them down. There was limited jacket designs available for these industries and even when labelled “women’s”, the jackets were too big, too chunky and may have well been men’s.
Taking a stand, working women approached larger workwear companies with feedback and suggestions on these jackets, hoping that one of them would take up the offer to create new designs that women could connect with. Unsurprisingly, they did not listen. When Co Gear received a call with the opportunity to take up this challenge, we jumped at the chance!
Doing what we do best, we collaborated with these women along with industry leaders BHP, to create the best ladies hi vis jacket on the market. Lucille turned out to be a one of kind beauty – featuring everything that these women had asked for.
- A slim fit including ribbed cuffs eliminating the “yeti feel” when worn.
- Segmented tape to allow for easy movement proving to be much safer and comfortable on site.
- Made from ideal fabrics featuring a 300D polyester oxford shell and fleece vest. No more of the itchy, scratchy or cheap feel.
- The option to layer up or down thanks to the detachable hood and removable vest getting rid of the too hot or too cold dilemma that’s seen with 1 piece jackets.
- The largest size range of it’s kind whether you’re a size 4 or 26, we have a size to fit.
Overall just by listening and taking action on behalf of our fellow women, we were able to solve a massive pain point in the industry and lead the way in creating more inclusive workwear options.
“I honestly haven’t seen anything like it and there is so much to love about it. The integrated/removable vest is a really cool idea. I love that it’s long enough to fully cover the bum, and the ribbed cuffs are so much nicer than the Velcro you normally see on rain jackets. I find Velcro usually fails after a while and it eventually stops sticking”. Elly H