After five years of trailblazing as a plus-size apparel entrepreneur, Raquel V茅lez recently shuttered her outdoor apparel company, , due to a lack of profit.
Alpine Parrot was one of a handful of outdoor brands dedicated to the plus-size market, which makes up more than 65 percent of Americans. V茅lez started with sizes 14-24 and ultimately expanded to size 30. Her biggest sellers were sizes 22 and 26, she said.
鈥淪topping isn鈥檛 the same as quitting,鈥 said V茅lez, who started the company in 2019 after she fell in love with skiing but found she had limited options for gear as a plus-sized woman. She left her work in the tech space, took up sewing, and self-funded Alpine Parrot for the first two years before opening up to investors such as REI. All along, her mission was to make clothing that allowed those with聽bigger bodies to feel comfortable and confident in nature.
Since announcing the decision in late 2024, she said she has had legions of customers and fans reach out disappointed because they were rooting for the brand.
鈥淲hether you were a customer, a cheerleader, or simply someone who believed in our mission, you’ve been an integral part of this adventure. Together, we’ve made a genuine impact on people’s lives and pushed the outdoor industry to rethink inclusivity,鈥 V茅lez wrote in the brand鈥檚 .
Ultimately, Alpine Parrot鈥檚 clothing wasn鈥檛 selling at a rate to support the company or future product.
In the blog announcing the closing, V茅lez cited consumer spending habits, outdoor industry inventory challenges, rising interest rates, cashflow issues, the company鈥檚 ability to secure loans, and the culture鈥檚 shift from body neutrality to diet culture in the advent of weight loss medications.
Meanwhile, she told us, retailers didn鈥檛 have the bandwidth to adapt their stores to meet the needs of the plus-size shopper, who has very different retail patterns. For example, straight-size shoppers find the style and look for their size, V茅lez said. Plus-size shoppers, on the other hand, look for their size (which often isn鈥檛 there) and then considers style.
Also, V茅lez said she had trouble winning folks over on the value proposition. She tried to explain how the price included her ethical sourcing and living wage, but it proved to be too high,聽 even though she sold her Pondorosa name pants for $139, which is about average in outdoor gear.
The pants sold when discounted, she said, and her inventory flew quickly when on final sale. Had that much volume been sold at full price, Alpine Parrot would have been able to hold out a bit longer, she said. Any remaining items were donated to non-profit organizations where the product will be loved long after Alpine Parrot closes its doors.
V茅lez鈥檚 work and advocacy made space for other up-and-coming brands, said Arwen Turner, co-founder of聽 , which also specializes in plus-size pants.
“Alpine Parrot paved the way for plus-size-owned brands to finally be seen, heard, and legitimized in the outdoor industry,鈥 Turner said. 鈥淎s a plus-size adventurer, walking into a shop and finding hiking pants beyond a size 2X made for plus-size bodies on the rack鈥攇etting to try them on and then spotting them out in the wild on friends鈥攊s nothing short of a game changer. It was the start of something much bigger, not the end.鈥