Meet Zander Lubkowitz, a 17-year-old high school senior who took his passion for skiing and entrepreneurship and combined them into a homegrown clothing brand that you can see on ski hills across the great state of Vermont.
On top of the regular school work and extra curriculars that keep your average high school age kid busy, Zander spends his time behind his sowing machine making product for his outwear company 4MANPANTZ. The company got it’s name for its trademark oversized ski pants style and has expanded to other apparel with a focus on bringing more freedom and self-expression into skiing & skateboarding.
We go the chance to talk to Zander between sewing sessions about his fledgling company. Here is what this young entrepreneur had to say about his company, the Vermont ski scene and the state of current state of ski wear.
UN: What is your home mountain?
Zander: I grew up skiing at Bolton Valley Resort, but primarily ski at Sugarbush Mt. Ellen nowadays.
UN: What do you dig about the Vermont ski scene?
Zander: What I love about the Vermont ski scene is the sense of community in it. No matter if I’m skiing the parks of Vermont, or in the backcountry somewhere I can confidently say that I feel a sense of connection with anyone I see out doing what I’m doing, which is enjoying the ski slopes of Vermont. I think this partially comes from the intensity of Vermont skiing.
In order to truly enjoy skiing in Vermont you often have to look for the good stuff. The main slopes are often all ice, or frozen chunky snow, and to get to the powder you have to put in some work; and work builds community. Same goes for the park scene, the varying conditions and intense parks in Vermont definitely brew a lot of creativity and commitment to the sport.
In the Vermont park scene people are really able to appreciate other people’s skiing; I couldn’t count how many times I hear people on the lift above the park at Sugarbush talking about a sick line they saw, and now are gonna try themselves – and that sort of appreciation for each other really builds a strong community on the slope.
UN: How did you come up with the name 4manpantz?
Zander: The name 4manpantz comes from something a friend of mine’s dad said when he saw the pants I made for his son. He saw the pants I made for him and he said “those pants are big enough to fit 4 people in ’em.” I got a kick out of that and figured that actually makes a pretty catchy name ‘4manpants’, and then I made the ‘s’ a ‘z’ cause it matches my name better. So in essence the name means exactly what it sounds like, pants that are big enough to fit 4 people in them, which is not to be taken literally – but they are pretty big.
UN: What are the advantages of super roomy snow pants?
Zander: There are a number of advantages to roomy snow pants. The largest of which I would say is the freedom to wear what you want underneath and still feel like you’re wearing a comfortable amount of clothes. Sometimes people go straight from work to the mountain and it can be very convenient to just keep what you’ve had on and throw some large snow pants over and get to skiing.
Or on a super cold day, wearing too many layers underneath your pants can be very restricting in average fitting pants, maybe make you perform worse or just be uncomfortable on the slopes, but with large snow pants you can wear as many layers as is needed to keep you warm and still feel spacey.
Another big advantage is that large snow pants don’t restrict any range of motion, which is very important especially in freeski or park skiing – along with the pure style of the pants, which is important to many people especially in trick skiing.
UN: How did you learn to sew?
Zanser: I started sewing sophomore year of high school, and at first I learned fully through spending study halls watching youtube videos of people sewing dresses, hats, and jackets, etc,. I kept learning this way, and through trying and failing many times, until this past summer. I spent this past summer in an internship Fourbital Factory, a local sustainable manufacturing factory, where I learned how to use high end equipment, and to sew garments of higher quality.
I have been able to apply what I learned at that internship to my design and sewing now, despite not having fully industrial equipment. I currently use semi industrial and home machines when I work, and I use a serger, straight stitch machine, and a home machine with numerous stitches.
UN: What do you see as the biggest problem in the outdoor clothing Industry?
Zander: The outdoor clothing industry, like many industries, has a large issue of a lack of self expression. I definitely see a lot of people learning to make clothes that express themselves, and to take what they wear into their own hands in the clothing industry as a whole, particularly in my generation; but for whatever reason that hasn’t seemed to have made its way to the outdoor clothing industry.
Designing, creating, and wearing clothes that you made, or were made by an individual that you can name in your industry is an amazing feeling, and if more people were to learn how to create outdoor clothes to express themselves then the outdoor industry would gain expression, and lose mass manufacturing emissions that go into outdoor clothes.
UN: What can we expect from 4manpantz in the future?
Zander: 4manpantz is what I like to call a passion project. Making pants, and other apparel for winter is something I find enjoyable, and something that allows me to learn more about the industry that I love; the ski industry.
As 4manpantz grows the quality can only be expected to increase, I’m always looking to change my designs to make them as practical, as well as stylish, as they can be. As for products to expect in the future; I can say with confidence snow pants will continue to be the main focus, but I also have unfinished designs of hats, gloves, and mittens that I’m looking to get out as soon as I can.
Heads up for drop of warmer weather clothing, including jeans, hoodies, and hats, was just released on his website. Make sure to check that out here.