New Orleans entrepreneur Devin Regan had always dreamed of owning his own business. He has launched several businesses over the years, most recently a clothing brand focused on providing performance sun-protective apparel.
Rayward Apparel stems from Regan’s passions in life. He’s an active fitness coach and spends hours outside in the sun, and was diagnosed with melanoma last year. He has fully recovered from the cancer, but sun protection is now a huge part of his life moving forward.
Regan found there are limited options in terms of sun-protective apparel in the market. “Locally and nationally, our competition is other sun protective apparel brands,” Regan told Silicon Bayou News. “Fortunately, there aren’t many companies out there that are focused on that niche.”
Rayward Apparel was funded using Regan’s own capital following the sale of his last company, Maverick VR, at the end of 2019 when he started his next entrepreneurial journey.
The startup has not pivoted due to COVID-19, but has been impacted with product delays. They work with a manufacturer based in India so the production was temporarily halted and the products will now be delivered to customers in June.
“We are custom designing every aspect of our products, including the exact fabric composition,” shared Regan. The products are lightweight and soft, while still providing UPF 50+ protection. Rayward Apparel is also working with their manufacturer on developing men’s and women’s polo shirts with similar fabric qualities as their current line of tops.
The company donates five percent of all profits to charities with a similar vision.
Head to raywardapparel.com to view the company’s first line.