Posted: April 16, 2009
Colorado Cool Stuff: Vedante Pop Bands, Collars and Leashes
Fashion designer creates hip reflective gear for people and pets
By Eric PetersonAfter a long career as a fashion designer and owner of Los Angeles apparel companies, Barbara Kantor “semi-retired” to Boulder in 1997. The avid walker often took to the Boulder Creek Path after nightfall, but thought most reflective clothing lacked style.
One evening in 2006, she was walking with a friend, discussing the possibility of starting another apparel company making fashion-forward “super-reflective” wearables. A few blocks later, they witnessed a pedestrian get struck by a driver who didn’t see her black jacket, and Kantor knew her instincts were correct.
“I recognized a void in the market,” Kantor recalls. “I’m certainly not semi-retired anymore.” Vedante now makes arm bands (“Pop Bands”), leashes, and dog and cat collars in a variety of colors that reflect light up to 1,500 feet in all directions. Five percent of the gross of products bought without packaging goes back to charities supporting safety and the environment. $10.98 to $45.98 retail. Made by Vedante Corp., Boulder www.vedante.com. A list of dealers is on the website.
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Denver-based writer Eric Peterson is the author of Frommer's Colorado, Frommer's Montana & Wyoming, Frommer's Yellowstone & Grand Teton National Parks and the Ramble series of guidebooks, featuring first-person travelogues covering everything from atomic landmarks in New Mexico to celebrity gone wrong in Hollywood. Peterson has also recently written about backpacking in Yosemite, cross-country skiing in Yellowstone and downhill skiing in Colorado for such publications as Denver's Westword and The New York Daily News. He can be reached at Eptcb126@msn.com