Random Maker

Random Maker

 

Lisa Bolin turns a love of horses into a dominant force in America’s Western Apparel industry with her Cowgirl Tuff line of clothing.

 

I was either shopping or riding my horse.”

 

Cowgirl Tuff founder and CEO Lisa Bollin grew up in the rodeo world—a 4-Her, a barrel racer, and, in her own words, a “clothes horse.” She spent more time at the mall than in the Western wear stores, always interested in the latest trends.

 

“I used to hand paint crazy clothes in high school,” she says. “I wasn’t much of a follower.”

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Bollin’s artistic eye and flare for the dramatic have stood her in good stead as the designer for the wildly popular Cowgirl Tuff Company. Instead of pursuing her love of horses in college, she got a degree in Fashion Merchandising and Design, then worked in retail for five years. Later she went out on her own, selling hand painted clothing at arts and crafts fairs.

 

The hours and weekends kept her from pursuing her second love: barrel racing. So she gave up the fairs and went back to the horses.

 

“I saw mothers and daughters at the barrel racing jackpots wearing sport clothes, not any brands that were ‘Western,’” Bolin says. She started a line of clothing that blended the sporty aspect of trendy clothing with the practical needs of riding horses. For five years she sold the line at rodeos and barrel races, then in 2004 she took her line to market.

 

That first market netted the young company 18 stores. In the five years since, Cowgirl Tuff has gone into 1,200 stores nationwide. Bolin thinks her attention to detail is what has really made the difference in the growth of her company.

 

“I’m an average size woman, and it’s really hard to find things that fit well and have some flare,” she says. “I make the rise higher for curvaceous women, then as the jean sizes get smaller, they just naturally fit.”

 

As a barrel racer and avid horsewoman, Bolin says she hates jeans that don’t fit properly in the saddle. Not only is the rise of her jeans a bit higher, but the lengths are longer.

 

“They need to be longer when you get on a horse,” she says. It’s just one of the details that makes her jeans special. She is one of the few in the industry who sells an extra-long 38” inseam for tall women. And with two percent Spandex in the fabric, “you can sit on a horse, or sit on an airplane for two or three hours.”

 

“In the line that I design, I try to make it more of a woman’s cut,” Bolin says. “We see there’s more need for medium through double X sizes. We try to be attentive to making things fit right.

 

“I go to bed designing in my head and I wake up thinking about it,” she says.

 

Bolin herself has been surprised at the success of her design philosophy.

 

“I have ten reps now,” she says. “They are all different heights, sizes, and shapes, and they can all wear the jeans.”

 

For the holiday season, Bolin has added embellishments that include foils and velvets. In 2010 she will bring out a new line of jeans that won’t have any embellishment besides the barbed wire design on the back pocket.

 

“We’re going to have five different colors of this jean, our standard jean,” she says. “Then we’ll have limited edition jeans as well.” The standard jean allows her to expand the line to women who simply want a good quality jean that fits properly, without fancy embroidery or crystals.

 

Bolin wants to continue designing for the company, which is still located on the 40 acres she and her husband own in Minnesota. As she finds ways to delegate more to her staff, the family is able to spend more time involved in the horse world. They’ve built a big arena on the property where they hold several barrel races throughout the year (in fact, pictures can be seen at the cowgirltuffco.com website).

 

“I am who my customers are. I can relate,” Bolin says. She still spends more time following trends outside of the Western market, but admits that she looks at her competitors to find gaps they are not filling.

 

“How are you going to get the next generation [in to the Western stores] if you don’t offer what they want?” she wonders.

 

The company is beginning to look at other equine sports as well, watching what is going on in mounted shooting as well as cutting and reining associations. And Bolin stays directly involved in the quality control aspect of the business, making sure her jeans constantly improve.

 

“I hope people can see that or feel that when they put them on,” she says. “We’re in to making quality.”
 

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