BC Business
Offered in sizes 3XS to 4XL, the Fresh Air Jumpsuit retails for $179.95
Any company that’s trying to make the “sheets to the streets” look a less messy affair has my attention. Smash + Tess, an “everywear” brand from Vancouver, is doing just that by leading what it calls a “romper revolution.”
Co-founder and CEO Ashley Freeborn says the one-and-done comfort of the romper is what women seem to love. “You can wear your romper to bed and then throw on a denim jacket and shoes and go do a school pickup, walk your dog, grab a cup of coffee. One less thing to think about in the morning is pretty important for women these days.”
Freeborn would know, as she was a high school teacher for 10 years—not a lot of “me time” in the morning to think about what you’re going to wear. Although she enjoyed teaching english and theatre, the SFU grad got the most out of her master’s degree in education before she decided to work in the finance sector for a few years. The corporate experience was inspiring and informative enough for her to embrace entrepreneurship and launch Smash + Tess (a play on Ashley and her mother Teresa’s names) in 2016.
Six years after a romper from their first fall collection took off, the co-founders have now dedicated a line just for rompers—from shortys and wide legs to romperalls and fresh brand collabs.
Smash + Tess
“What we’ve strived to do is create a brand where everyone can have the same shopping experience,” Freeborn maintains. “And why shouldn’t we? I’ve always been curvier and often been excluded from certain shopping experiences. I wanted everyone to feel like they belonged.”
The company’s latest partnership with Mountain Equipment Company (MEC) ties its expertise in flattering sizes with the outdoor retailer’s style in the form of a Polartec fleece jumpsuit (or onesie, if that’s what you’re into). Offered in sizes 3XS to 4XL (like all of Smash + Tess products), the Fresh Air Jumpsuit retails for $179.95.
Growing up as a kid in Vancouver with MEC backpacks and raincoats comes full circle for Freeborn in this partnership: “We wanted to have that sort of outdoor, playful element of Mountain Equipment and then of course the silhouette that made us famous, which is the romper. It’s been super fun to collaborate with them and have a little bit of both of our brands in one product.”