High Country Business Review 2

COVER
“We have a high-class clientele here, so if (the
pajamas) are good enough for them, they’re good
enough for anyone,” Fenn said.
MacTavish’s signature prints have a 1950s-kitch
feel. For example, her Topless Cowboy pjs feature
muscle-bound cowboys wearing worn-out jeans.
Customers can pair the bottoms with a knit top that
reads: “Je Suis (I Am) Sexy.”
For a feminine, playful feel, she sells a
Backcountry Babes ensemble, with pin-up girls
posed on flannel. As she says, “It’s hard to not look
or feel sexy when you’re wearing a pin-up girl. You
exude sexiness, and you get a lot of attention.”
Her Sassy Kitty offers a classy animalistic feel,
with its leopard print flannel adorned with hot pink
satin trim and crystal buttons. The glamour leopard
robe includes a detachable ostrich feather boa. Her
summer silks easily crossover into daywear, with
their flowing, glamorous camisoles.
She began her business, BRIGI, in the summer,
when she wasn’t teaching skiing in Aspen. She
showed her wares at Aspen’s Saturday market,
where she sold thousands of dollars of pjs. Rather
than follow the fashion industry’s norm of creating
one new collection every season, MacTavish
debuted fresh designs every Saturday, as part of her
market research. Her customers’ responses and
suggestions for change helped perfect her design.
She began receiving custom orders, mostly from
second homeowners, and that’s when she knew she
had a captive audience.
Though she never studied fashion, she took
marketing, business, writing and math classes in
college. Her belief: If you have a good foundation in
any type of education, you know how to learn. A
quick class at the Small Business Development
Center in Glenwood Springs gave her the knowhow to write a business plan. Wells Fargo has
backed her company ever since.
Now, her sleepwear sells in boutiques, including
Bare Essentials in Edwards; Stein Eriksen’s
Clothing in Snowmass and Park City; Pampered
Passions in Denver; and Princess Kept the View and
T-BAR in Boulder. Her cozy presence extends to
stores in Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles and Canada.
Soon, she’ll employ about five people, because she’s
setting up a distribution center for her online
orders.
“My customers love my product, and I don’t use
that term loosely,” she said. “They have a strong
emotional attachment to their pajamas. I get letters
saying it’s become a part of their family.”
One of the things people love about her product
is her commitment to manufacture it in the United
States. Workers in Pennsylvania sew her pajamas.
The clothing ranges in price from $165 to $330.
Though pjs weren’t always in her career plans,
she knew she was going to be an entrepreneur at
the age of 12, or even younger, she said. Her mother owned small businesses, which inspired her.
When she saw an opening in the pajama market,
she took it.
“I need to rule the pajama world and show people the power of pajamas, because pajamas are so
nurturing; they’re so cozy,” she said. “It’s kind of an
uncertain world we live in, but you can get in your
pajamas and feel safe and you have lots of love.
And (I’ve found) a lot of other people feel the same
way.” ■
“They have a strong emotional
attachment to their pajamas. I
get letters saying it’s become a
part of their family.”
— Bridget MacTavish
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PEACHEY PHOTOGRAPHY/WILLIS PEACHEY
The design on these pajamas is called “Backcountry Babes.”
HIGH COUNTRY BUSINESS REVIEW
SEPTEMBER 2006
5