I actually discovered Virtika because I had some ideas for jackets and saw them on his gear. So I thought he was super innovative when I first stumbled across Virtika. This was probably 1-2 years post-FD. I then discovered the brand image. Took a second to stomach the destroying of a good brand with stupid marketing - but then I realized what the niche was (still think he could have tapped a much stronger market if his Target demographic wasn’t so juvenile - most people will eventually outgrow that “lifestyle”).
I finally bought some Virtika gear ~3 years after I discovered them. Super cheap $150 insulated shere khan jacket. Except, they sent me a shere khan pant. After contacting them - they promised to deliver shere khan jacket, pay for return shipping, and add a t shirt. They never paid for return shipping, the jacket was way smaller than I expected (size M - which I am that size across 99.9% brands), and the t shirt shrunk immediately.
After being so excited for Virtika, my first impression was “this jacket feels fucking CHEAP”.
Everyone talking about how cheap Virtika is - honestly, just talk to a friend with a pro deal hook up. So many people have them and you can get TNF, HH, MH, etc. for the same price. All your resort homies (especially PSIA) have these deals. Don’t let them hold out on you.
Anyways, that’s a reformed Virtika fanboy’s 2 cents.
Also, I agree. The Dan Bilzerian thing is stupid. After the immediate “wow that’s Dan bilzerian”, it was obvious what David was doing.
c-friesHonestly I was a fan of Lesh and Virtika up until the wannabe Instagram influencer thing that’s been going on the past few years. I dug the no f*cks given attitude and loved the last Friday video stuff. I thought Lesh was trying to keep it core.
But trying to become some kind of Bilzerian Instagram dude has just killed me. WTF does Dan Bilzerian and his harem of 19 year old girls have to do with the ski industry?? Not sure promoting yourself/brand with those people gets any less core than that.
And the recent National Forest stuff is just really really not cool. So yea, I’m all aboard the not Lesh/Virtika train.