La fábrica de Hincapie

La fábrica de Hincapie

It’s not unordinary to hear Spanish in the Hincapie Sportswear office. On any given day, you’ll hear a sales rep pick up the phone and say, “Hola, Olmar!” Or Rich spout out Spanish at the speed of light as he has a Skype conversation.

That’s because though the Hincapie factory is another country away in Medellin, Colombia, our Greenville-based office stays in constant contact with our Colombian coworkers (and family, as the factory is run by George and Rich’s uncle and aunt, Jorge and Mari). To be sure, our relationship with the factory is one that many cycling sportswear companies do not have; most can’t say that they work with a factory that only produces their apparel, and most can’t say that these factory workers—from designers to seamstresses—are accessible to the sales team at the touch of a button.

However, though modern-day technology does in many ways allow us to feel as if our factory is right next door, it’s never as good as the real thing, which is why Rich visits the factory every few months to meet with the department heads, survey the operations, and see the kits being made.

When he visited this past January, he had a special project to survey: a pair of custom tights for his daughter Olivia. Designed by his wife Drew, the tights went into production as Rich was at the factory, and he documented the process from start to finish.

Take a look at Rich’s videos, beginning with the order intake and ending with the packaging of the apparel. View the entire series on Hincapie’s Youtube channel.