Meet Olivia ONeill — runner, hiker, biker, and creator and proprietor of Mild Foot Athletics attire.
Whereas coaching for the Bighorn 200 Mile, Olivia noticed a necessity for sure attire. Reasonably than purchase issues that didn’t fairly match the invoice, she made her personal. In some way, by the net of social media, I discovered Mild Foot and was instantly tremendous enthusiastic about how she blended artwork with clothes that appeared each snug and extremely useful for outside actions.
Right here is the inventive Olivia ONeill on the artwork of operating.
Olivia ONeill began creating outside attire as a result of she wanted clothes that suited her particular wants. All images courtesy of Olivia ONeill.
Inform us about your operating/journey background and Mild Foot Athletics.
I began operating after faculty in New York Metropolis (NYC), [New York]. I discovered path operating fairly shortly and spent my weekends determining the way to get from Brooklyn out to trails in Upstate New York and New Jersey through trains. That’s metropolis life with no automotive!
I began operating ultras and was hooked! I moved out to Colorado in 2021 and have been completely enamored with the wilderness out right here, entering into longer pursuits and actually appreciating shifting by unbelievable areas!
I began Mild Foot Athletics whereas I used to be prepping for Bigfoot 200 Mile and realized that the gear I had wasn’t going to chop it, so I made a bunch of issues for myself. Pondering that these could be issues different folks would need too, I made a decision to begin promoting them!
What obtained you into operating and designing?
I’ve wished to be a clothes designer since I used to be 13. I’ve all the time had a really sturdy draw towards making issues, and my favourite a part of design has all the time been fixing issues. I went to Parsons The New Faculty for Design in NYC and labored as a menswear designer within the company trend world for 10 years earlier than beginning Mild Foot. What drew me to operating was that it was an outlet for my inventive mind to course of all of the ideas bumping round.
Whereas coaching for the Bigfoot 200 Mile, Olivia found that she wished clothes that didn’t exist. So she made it herself.
Artwork and journey may be comparable, expressive retailers. Are they associated for you?
For me, being outside and happening adventures has been my place to suppose and work out concepts.
Who or what’s the most motivating issue that retains you shifting and creating? Anybody particularly encourage you?
There isn’t actually a tangible motivating issue that retains me making issues. I feel it’s simply an innate factor that if I wasn’t making issues, I wouldn’t be blissful. I take into consideration artists and designers that encourage me, and I feel the by line in all of them is individuals who have a component of joyfulness and irreverence to their work. Graham Keegan, Paula Kozłowska, Justice Wolf, and Lana Launay are all artists of various mediums that I get excited to see new work from.
Do you construction your operating and inventive initiatives, with coaching plans or deadlines? What does your typical day seem like as a inventive and outside individual?
This can be a humorous one as a result of I feel, in most methods, I’m a typical inventive kind that’s most of the time, slightly in every single place. After I’m making a drop for Mild Foot, I’m far more structured simply so I can get the whole lot out in time, however after I’m engaged on private inventive initiatives, my motto is “solely work on initiatives if you end up excited to work on them.” That method I’m making the perfect inventive choices for that factor for the time being after I’m in the correct headspace to take action.
I was very structured in my operating, however for the final two years, I’ve stripped all of that again and not run with a watch, monitoring, Strava, or actually some other kind of metrics apart from having a basic concept of the size and vert of the route I’m doing. It’s introduced a lot pleasure again to being exterior for me and brought off a lot pointless strain — I extremely advocate attempting it. 🙂
Olivia ONeill has mixed her love for clothes design and creation along with her ardour for outside pursuits.
I like the best way you mix artwork into Mild Foot with colours/dyes, the cyanotype on the cotton tee, the DIY shirt. Another objects you’re hoping to create? Any critique for the outside attire business?
I see Mild Foot as two actually vital issues for me. It permits me to use what I like most (making issues) to the locations I like probably the most (exterior!) Mild Foot has been an experiment in with the ability to make useful issues for the outside; issues that I particularly determine wants for in my very own adventures, so new objects are normally born out of a private necessity. An merchandise that I’d like to create could be an ideal sports activities bra — I’ve some materials for testing and some completely different design concepts.
I’d truthfully like to see much less green-washing from outside manufacturers. Coming from a company trend background, I’ve seen corporations tout their sustainable supplies and merchandise whereas doing nothing to deal with the constant difficulty of irresponsible and wasteful shopping for practices.
There’s a deal with “marketable” sustainability to create gross sales development whereas doing nothing to deal with the huge problems with waste and moral consumption. I’ve loads to say about this matter, however I’ll save that for one more time. 🙂
Outdoors of Mild Foot, what are different inventive pursuits you take pleasure in? What different sports activities exterior of operating? You appear to like lots of various things!
One thing I do fairly a little bit of is mending denim! I do hand-sewn sashiko-style repairs on largely classic denim for people in Boulder, Colorado. Not solely is it a super-fun inventive course of, but it surely additionally aligns with my beliefs round protecting what you’ve got and making it higher. I take commissions and work with a neighborhood classic denim vendor referred to as Lov’d. My different inventive ardour is knitting, and that I maintain all for myself as a result of it takes so dang lengthy.
Outdoors of operating, I like backpacking and fastpacking — final 12 months, I solo thru-hiked the Colorado Path, and I feel it modified my mind chemistry. Very excited to do extra adventures like that sooner or later! I additionally attempt to get on my bike as a lot as potential and have very evenly been attempting to get into extra snow sports activities.
Knitting exterior is only one of many Olivia ONeill’s joys.
Do you’ve got recommendation for somebody creating their very own enterprise from their artwork?
Ensure you have a wholesome relationship along with your artwork! It may be draining to attempt to monetize your ardour and depart you feeling much less enthusiastic about making issues. I’ve discovered that having initiatives which are only for me retains me feeling excited to return to creating issues for different folks.
And a random query that I ask everybody: For those who could possibly be a tree, what sort of tree would you be?
Not a kind of tree, but when I had been a tree, I’d wish to be planted alongside a path with good folks watching and even higher views. Put me wherever on the John Muir Path, and I might be blissful. 🙂
Mild Foot Athletics attire combines particular features with distinctive designs.
Name for Feedback
- Have you ever worn something from Mild Foot Athletics earlier than?
- Do you attempt to customise your outside attire to make it higher work on your wants?
A Mild Foot high within the wild.
