TRAIL SPIRITS APPAREL
TRAIL SPIRITS APPAREL
ABOUT TRAIL SPIRITS APPAREL
I have long wanted to start an apparel line and tried over the years dating back to 2019, but I was never fully happy with the implementation of my art on the final product. I started throwing around ideas in November of 2025 after making a shirt of a gremlin in goggles with my art in the reflection as a joke for one of my friends. When the shirt turned out better than expected, I started thinking about the idea of a clothing line again and began working on design ideas. I settled on the concept of incorporating “trail spirits” as design elements, while utilizing my images in the reflections of the sunglasses and goggles that they would be wearing. I loved the idea of not limiting the design ideas to just animals that are found in Colorado, or even in this dimension such as the Yeti (I’m kidding, I know the Yeti is real).
My nickname has been “Jer Bear” my entire life. My mom has called me her polar bear since the day I was born due to my soft blonde hair and my friends call me the grizzly bear so naturally those were design elements that came up first. My spirit animal in the alpine is the marmot and is symbolic of my love for the mountains so I needed to find a way to implement that as well. My niece decided she wanted a unicorn as I was making these so I had to make that design for her as well. These projects are fun because they take a LOT of time, energy, and effort but in the end they compound on themselves and take on a life of their own.
Each design has one of my fine art photos in it that were specifically picked and formatted by me in the goggles of each of these spirit animals. It was fun trying to incorporate images that either gave a sense of place for that animal, showed a place or experience that I absolutely loved, or just went well with the color coordination of the animal. I never fully saw this project coming to life or transforming in the way that it has over the past two months, but I am glad that it has turned out the way it has. I hope you enjoy the spirit animals and they bring you comfort in your home, out and about in your everyday life, or when you’re out walking in the woods!
Cheers,
Jeremy Janus