We’re two brothers: Matt and Mitch; one queer, one ally.
Growing up in Queensland and both of us being big sport fans, we have a soft spot for all games but rugby is our greatest love.
We were raised playing it and have watched the sport turn in to a shining example of how a code should be accessible and inclusive to all individuals, no matter their background.
The idea for our fun, athletic and proud apparel was born at the Bingham Cup, known as the World Cup of gay rugby.
When we started Active Pride 12 months ago, we had been to three Bingham Cups between us – Manchester, Sydney and Nashville – and earlier this year we went to our fourth tournament in Amsterdam.
We play for the World Barbarians Club. It’s special to us because of the club members. It’s a club for rugby orphans – those who don’t have a home club or their home club is not attending that tournament.
These are people of different nations, shapes, sizes, varying values and ideals – different identities.
But, when you get to the tournament these differences don’t seem to matter. Everyone is there to be proud, be a community, have fun and be the best they can be.
This is the inspiration for Active Pride’s mission: motivate and inspire individuals to regularly exercise, live a healthy lifestyle, and of course, help give them the confidence to be whoever they want to be and greater than any challenge they face.
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Hump day is here! Can’t wait to get to the beach and lounge around this weekend 🏖️🌊🍹.
We debuted Active Pride at Brisbane Pride Festival’s Fair Day last year. There was a huge turnout for the march that year because it was during the same-sex marriage plebiscite.
We had a small range of shirts and singlets to sell but we really wanted to speak to the community about our little brand and what we were trying to achieve.
We really wanted to promote pride through our apparel and the idea of being comfortable in who you are.
To do this, we focused on the fit of our clothing rather than boxing it in those binary opposites of Male and Female.
We promote our clothing instead as masculine and feminine because no one should feel ashamed of what they want to wear and how they want to wear it.
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Since our first Fair Day we’ve listened to the community and recently moved in to swimwear and teamwear.
Our teamwear is fully customisable with any print possible. We recently did the running shirts for the Brisbane Frontrunners if you see them around town.
We’re also very excited about our swimwear. Our community is loud and proud, so we decided to follow suit and create super fun, colourful and cheeky prints.
We’re hoping to see plenty of them around town and on the beaches this festive season/summer – a perfect stocking filler for Christmas.
You might also know some of the models on our website and social media. All are local Brisbane boys who we’ve met through the community and they’re the nicest people you’ll ever meet.
In the future we’re going to continue to focus on our fun, colourful designs across our range and branch out in to different styles.
We’ve also recently been talking with some of our transgender friends who wanted some more workout wear options we hope to debut in 2019.
One of our end goals is to get our business to the point where it can help support the queer-friendly teams that we’ve become good friends with through our journey so far.
All our products can be found at our website. We’re offering a special Christmas discount of 10% on all non-sale items until Christmas Eve, simply use the code Ready4Summer at the checkout.
Don’t forget to give us a like on our Facebook and Instagram pages to keep updated on our new gear as we release it. We’re a brand for the community so if you have an ideas, want some great team wear (team shirts, singlets, jerseys, swimmers, etc) or just want to say hello than please contact us through our website or email info@active-pride.com.au
