Vertura, the mountaineering clothing brand helping women reach summits

It’s true that in the outdoors industry, apparel and equipment designed specifically for women can be hard to find. Often, women’s styles are afterthoughts based on something that was originally designed for men, and sometimes you can’t even find a true equivalent at all.

That’s why climber and mountaineer Ronnie Legg founded Vertura: to give women the right clothing suitable for use in high mountains and cold environments. This is the story of how it all began.

Finding the right fit

“On a mountaineering trip to the Bolivian Andes, I noticed my female teammates and I were all wearing at least one piece of men’s clothing because we couldn’t find suitable women’s equivalents” says Ronnie.

“My insulated trousers were tight on the hips, too long in the leg and had so much excess fabric I would snag my crampons on them with every step. My size 8 friend was wearing a men’s Medium down jacket, because that was the size that would do up around her hips, but the rest of it swamped her.

It became obvious to me that the lack of clothing choice for women was limiting our enjoyment and safety in the mountains.”

That thought sat at the back of Ronnie’s mind for a few years. Then, when Ronnie was preparing to climb Ama Dablam in Nepal, she decided to take action.

“I had worked as an outdoor clothing designer for over a decade at this point, and yet I still couldn’t find the clothing that met my needs. I’m average height for a woman, with curves in all the usual places. But I couldn’t buy a women’s down suit, or even find warm, insulated pants that fit me, or a really warm down jacket that wasn’t an overly-shaped and under-filled women’s model with the most useful features missing.

So I took matters into my own hands. I designed the jacket I needed and got a sample made, and I sewed my own down pants (which confirmed I am better at designing than sewing!). Making everything as light as possible helped keep my pack weight down, and I was very happy to reach the 6812m summit in -20°C without suffering from hypothermia!”

Ronnie came away from the summit with a new mission. “It dawned on me how ridiculous it is that in the 2020’s women are still having to buy men’s clothing to stay warm and safe. I realised if I couldn’t see the change I wanted, then I had to make it happen: that’s what sparked the idea for Vertura.”

Clothing for women, by women

Vertura is committed to creating innovative products that solve the problems women face with mountain clothing by offering solutions that address women’s unique functional needs, fitting specifically to women’s body shapes and proportions, and using performance fabric technologies and appropriate features to improve comfort and safety margins.

Although the range is still small, the focus is on solving problems for women with products that make a genuine difference to their comfort in the mountains.

The heroine of the collection has to be the Pioneer Down Pants which use innovative TX Down® fill to create highly packable, completely windproof, warm insulated pants. Thoughtfully designed with a functional drop seat making toilet breaks possible even when wearing a harness, the Pioneer Down Pants have been nominated for a UK Outdoor Industry Award (which you can still vote for until the end of February).

There’s also the popular Thermal Power Leggings and their cropped length sister variant, which are ideal for ski trips and shoulder seasons. Key to their comfortable fit is the signature elastic-free waistband, which is designed to sit high without binding or digging in.

Vertura has introduced the Thermal Power Hoody for 2026, which is created to be a versatile fleece layer which adds warmth to any layering system while remaining highly breathable for active pursuits. It’s soft and stretchy with a smooth face that helps cut the wind, and the fabric is made in Portugal just 20 minutes down the road from the garment factory.

The range of accessories also pays attention to the details, like hats and headbands that are designed to fit average female head dimensions rather than a one-size-fits-all which is usually based on male norms.

It’s also true that many women struggle with poor circulation and are more likely to suffer from Reynaud’s syndrome, and that’s why Vertura’s Thermal Power Wrist Warmers are designed to help keep warm blood flowing to the fingers with or without gloves on, with the flatlock seams and integrated thumb ensuring all day comfort.

Not just clothing

Vertura is singularly focused on serving women, and that goal doesn’t stop at clothing. Aiming to inspire, educate, and encourage more women to find their limits without being limited by clothing.

Their regular email newsletter and The Handbook blog provide advice and articles covering issues that particularly affect women in the mountains, and Vertura also cureates a bookshelf packed with inspiring and informative women’s stories as an antidote to the traditionally male-dominated adventure titles.

In their own words, this is Vertura’s mission: “As a female owned and run brand, we genuinely want to see more women out enjoying the mountains and show the world that there is nowhere we don’t belong.”

You can find Vertura online at www.vertura.co.uk and in store at Outside (Hathersage), The Climbers Shop (Ambleside), and Joe Browns (Capel Curig). You can also connect with them on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest.