“I believe being in touch with the natural world is the best way to also be in touch with yourself.” Karlee Escobar, founder and designer for Mad Ethnic. apparel has always had a love for the outdoors. However, as a young woman of color, Escobar began to notice that the large outdoor retailers didn’t have designs that suited her, nor did she see women that looked like her wearing their products. “It didn’t take long to understand that many people don’t feel welcome in outdoor spaces.” Escobar wanted to change that. “At Mad Ethnic., we stand behind the idea that you must create the art you want to see in the world.” Beginning her apparel line and encouraging women to get outdoors, Escobar began to witness her peers “realize they are just as much a part of the natural world as the flowers and the streams.” Escobar wants to make an impact that works to empower women in the outdoor apparel industry and wants “women of color to know that those mountains in the distance are for them, and they always have been.”
Article by Caitlyn Olson
Photography by Karlee Escobar
Originally published in Greeley Lifestyle