The Horizon Bodysuit is made for… lots of things. Which is a good thing. Photos: Before Dawn Supply Co
As a guy, sometimes I forget how easy I have it with clothes. I’m usually reminded when I take a trip somewhere nice with my partner, though. It might be a bit of a cliche, but our luggage needs are… different, to say the least. She requires many luggages, while I generally require one. That’s because fashion is wildly unfair, and my shorts are far more easily worn in many more places than her bathing suits. Two women had an idea to fix that after a chance meeting that led to a new brand called Before Dawn Supply Co.
The pair have the perfect qualifications to do what they’re doing. Lillian Garlick is an apparel designer and Sarah Kowallik is a digital product and brand designer. The idea? A simple, one-piece that someone can wear doing pretty much anything. It’s called the Horizon Bodysuit.
“For women, our choices are still fragmented: swimwear that doesn’t stay put in the surf, yoga sets that fall short outside of the studio, and technical outdoor pieces that feel overbuilt for everyday use,” Kowallik explained. “That’s the gap we’re filling.”
The Horizon Bodysuit is built for a few things: it won’t fall off in the surf, it wicks sweat on the trail, and it doesn’t look like you’re wearing something that you just surfed in or went hiking in. Kowallik and Garlick met in January of 2024 while they were on a sailboat in Eastern Indonesia, which is a place where minimal is good but many things are needed.
“The idea was born from a sailing trip where we first met,” Kowallik remembered. “I overpacked, Lillian showed up with only a carry-on, and neither of us had what we needed. We shared this moment where we realized that both of our problems would’ve been solved by one quick-dry, comfortable piece that we could wear surfing, hiking, sailing, to yoga, or in town.”
That piece, however, didn’t exist, so they did what the best entrepreneurs do: they decided to make it themselves.
“We started wondering out loud why no one had created something that was both comfortable and stylish, and could move between activities on land and water,” said Garlick. “Those conversations quickly led to a shared vision, and ultimately, our own solution.”
View this post on Instagram
Women’s apparel is a pretty fragmented market. Most garments are marketed to a pretty specific audience — swimwear, yoga sets, hiking gear, loungewear, etcetera — and Garlick and Kowallik were aware of that fact when they were brainstorming their Horizon Bodysuit.
“We didn’t want to add to the noise,” Garlick said. “We wanted to give people one piece they could rely on that makes it easier to do more with less.”
More with less isn’t just for ease of use, either. It’s part of a broader, more sustainable business model that leads to less waste. Fast fashion and single-purpose gear is pretty awful for the planet. Not only does the one-thing-to-rule-them-all mentality lead to less things in the landfill, but the thing is made sustainably, as well. Crafted from Oeko-Tex Standard 100 recycled fabric, it is ethically sewn in California.
“We believe that sustainable design isn’t just about using sustainable materials,” Kowallik said. “It’s about reducing excess by designing multi-purpose products and maximizing their longevity… the Horizon Bodysuit challenges the idea that performance apparel needs to be specialized, category-bound, or heavily branded.”
As with many new endeavors, getting it off the ground wasn’t the easiest thing. At the beginning of August, they launched a Kickstarter to raise funds for wider production, and the early reviews are glowing.
Kowallik and Garlick don’t plan on stopping with the Horizon Bodysuit, either. “Long-term, the brand plans to expand thoughtfully with purpose-built staples that reflect (our) philosophy,” they said. “Intentional design, functional minimalism, and the idea that versatile gear can help women own less and do more.”
See more from Before Dawn Supply Co. on Instagram and check out the Kickstarter here.
