FirstSpear, has announced the expansion of their technical apparel line with the addition of 20-year textile industry veteran Kate Paterson to serve as their Apparel Product Line Manager, developing and managing a new suite of mission-specific, custom product that the company will be launching in the near future. I am super stoked about this news. I’m already a fan of FirstSpear and I’ve known Kate for several years now. She’s a superstar and I’ve learned a lot from her. She’s going to bring a lot to the brand.
The new pieces will utilize the latest in performance enhancing materials and design techniques, complimenting FirstSpear’s existing apparel products and their unique, lightweight load carriage systems. One of the advantages for FirstSpear is that they already specialize in body armor systems and this new line will seamlessly integrate with current industry armor systems and may serve as standalone technical garments for customers. Paterson will work to ensure that the effort builds on the company’s high speed, customer driven business model.
Prior to her work with FirstSpear, Paterson spent 20 years at Arc’teryx working in a range of capacities, resulting in a core expertise in researching, developing, consumerizing and improving highly technical apparel.
“I am looking forward to working with an independent, research and development focused company that prioritizes the individual needs of the customer,” said Kate Paterson. “I really enjoy helping people do their jobs better. FirstSpear’s focus on the unique mission needs of the individual user is in complete alignment with my goals of developing and fielding the very best products for our first responders and professional users.”
Paterson joins FirstSpear’s head of Research and Development Jon Laplume, who will be leading the technical material development process and interfacing with end user groups to generate the final product.
“Our continued expansion in the technical apparel field is the next logical step in the evolution of FirstSpear,” said FirstSpear CEO Scott Carver. “We have worked for the past two years to deliver user-driven load carriage systems that enable our customers to meet and surpass their mission needs. Kate brings to our team indepth knowledge of how to assess, accommodate and address the changing needs of our country’s professional user groups. Her skillset will help us even further support our customer’s changing demands by offering them new apparel options that integrate seamlessly with their gear to deliver maximum capability.”
Good luck to you guys. I can’t wait to see what you come up with.
