New brand Edasi announced Tuesday that it has raised over $115,000 from more than 1,000 backers through a Kickstarter campaign.
The brand launched the campaign in September to gauge the interest in its technical jeans. The campaign exceeded the original goal to raise $12,500.
Edasi, which means “forward” in Estonian, is the maker of Evolution of Denim, a men’s and women’s stretch jean equipped with 16 performance features like a bike lock loop, reflective night visibility and an elasticated waistband. The jeans also feature a silver and gold treatment that provides odor and antibacterial properties.
A key ingredient in the makeup of the jean is X4J, a fiber that adds cooling, breathability and weightlessness for ease of movement.
The jeans are the brainchild of Edasi founder Omar Abu-Shaaban, who was keen on finding solutions for common pain points denim wearers experience in their day to day. A newcomer to denim manufacturing, issues with jeans bunching and bagging out ultimately led Abu-Shaaban to travel the world to meet with potential suppliers to develop the jeans.
After 15 months of prototyping and exploring alternative fibers, he brought the jeans to market through the campaign.
Abu-Shaaban said he is wowed by the positive response to the performance jeans. “We almost need demand to slow down a bit because of the intense resources it takes to create the Edasi fabric,” he said, before adding that the company is in “go mode” and views the demand as an “obligation and honor.”
