We shouldn’t underestimate the environmental impact of specialized outdoor gear. The use of PFC’s and microplastics seem essential for the technical features of our gear. Repair and Recycling helps to limit the impact of our outdoor way of life and that’s where Neza Peterca comes into play. A graphic designer, photographer and craftswoman helping us to reduce our footprint.

Neza, I am very happy that we can finally have a chat. Where are you calling from?

I am currently in Slovenia, in my little house, South of Ljubljana. Covid forced me to stay in Slovenia since March. It’s the first year in a very long time that I spend such a long period here. I first stayed with my parents, but I recently escaped from the family home. The tiny house I now rent is situated in the middle of the forest, in the mountains. I have no neighbors since it is very remote. I love it here, but at the moment it is also very difficult because we are in a complete lockdown since 1,5 months. You are not allowed to see anyone and can only go to nearby shops. I live alone here, so it’s a rather tough period. One of my friends freaked out when she visited me some time ago. She wouldn’t dare to live so isolated in a forest in a house with a big window without curtains where everyone can spy on you. I got used to it since I camped a lot alone in the middle of nowhere. My house is my safe place and the best of it all is that when I leave my door, I am immediately on a hiking trail. The connection with nature is so easy.

Quite some years ago, inspired by Instagram, I bought my first cycling snack bag from Blind Chic. That’s where I know you from. What’s the story behind Blind Chic?

I went to Hungary for an Erasmus summer school. I was immediately impressed by Budapest. It’s a big city compared to Ljubljana and I fell completely in love with the big-city-life. And so, the following year I enrolled in a language course for three months to study Hungarian. I loved my time in Hungary. Upon my return to Slovenia, I got a message from a guy who was doing a video project on cycling from Madrid to Budapest on a fixed gear bike. They passed by Ljubljana and I accompanied them from there. Classic story, I fell head over heels in love with this guy. One of the crew girls invited me to stay with her in Budapest. We lived in a studio together, each minding our business. I graduated in graphic design and had some assignments. One day, we decided to make a backpack together. I made a video of it and we posted it online. Big Bang! Hypebeast, one of the bigger streetwear blogs, posted it and we took off. It was the rise of the backpack trend, so our timing was perfect. We didn’t plan to make a brand though. We were pushed towards setting up a business since we received 20 orders per day. Imagine, we could only make 4 backpacks per day! We had to figure out everything in a very short period of time and before knowing it, 8 years passed by. We had been three fully employed at Blind Chic and outsourced most of the production. The last three years, I felt lost. I was missing the mountains and I couldn’t identify myself anymore with Blind Chic. I loved the events we organized, mainly focusing on empowering women: supporting women’s cycling, organizing specific female rides, arranging repair workshops. All the rest, I didn’t feel it was part of me anymore. I felt I was making stuff people didn’t really need, that I was contributing to global waste. So then, in January 2019, we decided to sell the company. Another brand bought us out. It was a good decision.

I read about your assignment for Patagonia for the Worn Wear program, can you tell us a bit about that?

After selling Blind Chic, I decided to take a break from work for one year. I bought a ticket to Australia and would leave on the 1st of February. Mid-January I got a call from Patagonia offering me a job as a Worn Wear tour manager. I said goodbye to my Australian plans and travelled for 2.5 months through Europe with the mobile repair trailer. The initiative started in the US. The concept consists of a mobile wooden tiny house filled with machines and tools to repair outwear. It travels around Europe and encourages people to bring their gear to be fixed. There is a winter tour where we mainly repair waterproofs and ski suits and in summer, we head over to the popular surf spots for repairing wet suits.

And now you are stuck in Slovenia. Do you see yourself living here?

The more time I spend here, the more it seems this is not the country for me. I love the landscapes, but the whole political and social system is not encouraging for young people, it’s very ‘Balkan’. I am not exactly sure yet, but if I could choose any place, at this moment I would probably choose Innsbruck. Somewhere in Europe for sure!

The way you reinvented yourself in Slovenia is inspiring. Let’s talk about ‘What happened’.

I started What Happened in September 2020. The idea crossed my mind already a couple of times. With lots of time on my hand due to the current situation it was a great opportunity to start my company where I repair gear and make custom products, my own creative studio. It’s really hard work to survive only from repairs. People’s mentality is not quite there yet and its very common they would decide on replacement, rather than repair.

Who are your customers and what’s the idea behind the name?

The perfect conversation starter! If someone brings me something to be repaired, I typically would ask ‘What happened?’, but it also reflects on the whole climate crisis and what the hell happened there.

Most of my orders come from abroad. I did a few branded stuff for bike shops, a yoga studio and an adventure company in the UK. I have a strict vision in my head. I don’t want to put products on the market for people to want them, I want people to come to me with their specific need. I don’t want to create anything that is unnecessary. I don’t want to contribute to the global waste. Therefore, I always try to push to use the materials I have in stock. Upcycling had a weird note to its name in the past, it was for hippies and housewives, but now it’s coming back with more design orientated products, rather than just ‘using the trash’.

I agree, I even sometimes see it as a piece of art. A unique upcycled custom-made bag or jacket.

Yes! You know, a lot of brands, even small ones, don’t do custom made because it’s very time consuming. For instance, I need three days: one day to design it, another to make the whole pattern and then one day to actually make it. I feel if you order something specific, it has no fault, it is designed exactly as per your wishes, you’ll take better care of it and treasure it more. I also offer lifetime repair. It’s something every brand should apply. The repair doesn’t necessarily have to be for free, if the option is given, it’s already a good start. I feel it’s very disappointing if a brand says: ‘Oh, we can’t repair it, throw it away and we send you a new one’. A lot of people are satisfied that they get a new product, but they don’t really reflect on what happens with the old one. Ok, they throw it away, but actually there is no ‘away’? Can you tell me, where is away?

Did you teach yourself to repair and be creative or was creativity part of your childhood?

I am totally self-taught. I don’t see myself as a seamstress, I have been sewing for 12 years and it’s been a lot of trial and error. I think I have this mindset where I can perceive how something is going to look like. That’s the benefit of being graduated as a graphic designer. When you design a product, you need to be able to present it and sell it. I have the skills for that, from photography to typography and that has always really helped me. For example, for Blind Chic, I was doing all the visual materials, from videos to photography. When it’s your own brand you know exactly what you want to represent. Creating always came very natural to me. I love to create something tangible. I am really attracted by turning an idea into an actual product.

How do you apply the conscious way of living to your own life?

I haven’t bought anything new for a really long time. And can you imagine, I only have one bike! It has been a very conscious decision. Initially I had three bikes, but then I decided to get a custom built, the Hoop Snake, a bike that can do everything I want it to do. I am strict in not buying new materials until I have used what I have. I try to be zero waste with the food. It’s harder in this pandemic time since there aren’t any farmer markets or zero waste shops open. In supermarkets, I only buy things that are not wrapped in plastic and so it happens that I come home only with a big cabbage and wonder what to do with it.

I am very excited about another project of you, Sisters in the Wild!

That idea has been brewing for 2 years. I went on a trip with Franzi from Tales on Tyres, together we traversed the Dolomites. It was my first trip with another women, we didn’t know each other before the trip. It was very nice. We talked a lot about how we didn’t know anyone to go on adventures like that. Even in Slovenia, I don’t have friends who want to join me. It was also the year that wtf bikexplorers started in the States. We really thought it would be cool to have such an initiative in Europe, but obviously Europe is a different game. We have different languages and cultures which makes it a lot more difficult. I went on a few other trips with girls I met on Instagram. The followers I have are engaged, it’s a good platform if I search for people to cycle with.

Do you have other memorable bikepacking trips?

Last year I went on a Balkan trip for one month. I cycled from Ljubljana to Montenegro. The first two weeks a friend of me joined. It was her first bikepacking trip. I borrowed a fatbike for her. She is a kind of person who battles many fears, but I am so proud of how she handled it. We slept in areas with a lot of wild animals like bears. I am not easily scared anymore. If I am, it’s because I scare myself.

You never had a bad experience?

My first backpacking trip, in 2017, was in Southern Spain. I was very confident when I left, but the first night was terrible. I was so terrified; I couldn’t sleep for a minute. It was raining, there was no phone signal. I could say it was traumatic. I swore I would never pitch my tent alone again. But then you forget about it and you do it anyway. It’s not about having the guts; it’s doing it often and getting used to it. I believe you create a negative energy around you if you are afraid. For me, a tent is a space to hide, it gives me comfort, I zip into my own world.

In the dolomites with Franzi, we pitched our tent in a forest close to a village. I was changing my pants when I looked up and saw a man staring at me. I told Franzi that we had to leave. She said I had to chill out, that we would be just fine. We were two. When we went to bed, she crawled in her sleeping bag fully dressed, shoes on. I asked her what she was doing. I am not undressing in case we have to run! Laughs.

With Sisters in the Wild, you want to create the possibility for women to go on adventures together. Why only women?

I always felt there is big difference between cycling with men or women. With Blind Chic we undertook a lot of women cycling initiatives and that has always been very important to me. I think it’s because I found my independence through cycling. It was really eye-opening for me that I didn’t need a man to set up a tent for me, that I was able as a woman to take things on myself. I want to pass this on to other women. Be an example, if she can do it, I can do it too! That’s also the reason why I communicate about my trips. I like to be a kind of mentor. I always feel that women act differently if there are no men around. There is no competition, you are not trying to impress anyone. I know from the Blinc Chic era that there is a big need for get-togethers as a lot of women showed interest after the events. I am still figuring out where to go with SITW. Covid is impacting the plans. The idea is to start with a two-months project where I would personally go to every country where an event would be organized and help to set it up with a local person; one event every weekend in a different country.

Belgium’s in! I already know a campsite. I am curious though why you feel cycling with a man is different.

I give you an example. When I would be bike touring with a guy, in the evening I will go to sleep and don’t worry about anything because he is going to protect me. But when I go with a woman, we are both responsible and contribute as much. For me it’s about safety. When I am with a man I wouldn’t care so much, I would concentrate on pedaling. With a woman, it’s a different experience, it feels more as a whole. It’s difficult to explain, I would say it’s a different dynamic. We’ll also never be equal to men. In the summer I was in Scotland with a true outdoorswoman and she was telling me some crazy stories about guys belittling her. She has all credentials but yet men wouldn’t take her for granted. Like my granddad who believes that gnomes are chopping the wood for heating my little house in the woods.

Any interesting destination on your wishlist?

I always wanted to travel for a long period, but the more I think about it, it’s not a good idea. I believe when returning back to normal life, I wouldn’t be able to be content anymore.

I talked to a lot of people who went around the world saying that after a while it all becomes a routine and appreciation would be farfetched. That wouldn’t work for me. The coolest thing about Sisters in the Wild is that you meet people with the same kind of aspirations. I met Charlotte during our last event. We planned a SITW in the Lake District in the UK, though had to cancel it due to Covid. We have the same destination on our wishlist, so as soon as this virus allows us, we’ll be heading to Albania!

Words: Sofie Schuer

Photography: courtesy of Neza Peterca