{"id":11755,"date":"2017-04-02T19:00:40","date_gmt":"2017-04-03T02:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/?p=11755"},"modified":"2022-06-13T12:43:10","modified_gmt":"2022-06-13T19:43:10","slug":"women-behind-the-gear-susan-viscon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/hike\/women-behind-the-gear-susan-viscon","title":{"rendered":"Women Behind the Gear: Susan Viscon"},"content":{"rendered":"

After 20 years in the gear business, Susan Viscon has seen it all. That time she went to Interbike and the only other women were showroom models, for instance. Women\u2019s gear took up a quarter of the sales floor then, and even that was designed for men. \u201cIt seems so archaic now,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Today Susan is the senior vice president of merchandising at REI, and she\u2019s been a driving force for progress in women\u2019s gear and apparel.<\/p>\n

Freedom is a perfectly fitting hipbelt. Empowerment is gear designed by and for women.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been incredible to see the evolution, but we still have more to do,\u201d Susan says.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

She\u2019s determined to close the gap on high-performance technical gear. Her team worked with Cannondale and GHOST to create full-suspension mountain bikes<\/a> for women\u2014in stores this spring\u2014and they\u2019ll keep pushing the industry to innovate.<\/p>\n

Other gaps are in colors and sizing. The REI Co-op brand will launch a gender-neutral color palette and extended sizes to be more inclusive of all body types in the fall.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s say it together: One size does not fit all. There\u2019s no such thing as boy and girl colors.<\/p>\n

Progress is a beautiful thing.<\/p>\n

Learn more about how we are putting women front and center in 2017: Force of Nature.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After 20 years in the gear business, Susan Viscon has seen it all. That time she went to Interbike and the only other women were showroom models, for instance. Women\u2019s gear took up a quarter of the sales floor then, and even that was designed for men. \u201cIt seems so archaic now,\u201d she says. Today […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":11795,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[387],"tags":[726,612,727,641,293,651,1444],"internal-tag":[],"class_list":["post-11755","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hike","tag-force-of-nature","tag-gear-tips","tag-latest-posts","tag-outdoor-industry","tag-rei-employee","tag-women","tag-women-behind-the-gear"],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/rei.com\/blog\/hike\/women-behind-the-gear-susan-viscon","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Women Behind the Gear: Susan Viscon","url":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/hike\/women-behind-the-gear-susan-viscon","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/hike\/women-behind-the-gear-susan-viscon"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2017\/02\/Harnois-021617-0154-001.jpg?resize=150%2C150","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2017\/02\/Harnois-021617-0154-001.jpg?fit=7764%2C4739"},"articleSection":"Hike","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Aer Parris-Hoshour"}],"creator":["Aer Parris-Hoshour"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Uncommon Path \u2013 An REI Co-op Publication","logo":""},"keywords":["force of nature","gear tips","latest posts","outdoor industry","rei employee","women","women behind the gear"],"dateCreated":"2017-04-03T02:00:40Z","datePublished":"2017-04-03T02:00:40Z","dateModified":"2022-06-13T19:43:10Z"},"rendered":"