How Alexis Benson Drives the Feminine Authenticity of the Lexi Miller Brand

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by Doris Hobbs[/x_text][/x_column][x_column bg_color=”” type=”3/4″ style=”padding: 0px 0px 0px 0px; “][x_text]“I tend to ride twenty to one-hundred miles per day,” Alexis Benson says, founder and designer of Lexi Miller, speaking with a passionate intensity, as we sit in the tiny, French restaurant of Le Marais in San Francisco’s marina district. Alexis is dressed casually in a wool-blend turtleneck accompanied by a tweed cape and black leather ballet flats; all garment choices complementing her toned physique. Wearing a minimal amount of makeup, her straight locks highlight a natural beauty and determination through the hard-earned sweat she has achieved with her debut line.

Alexis Benson, Founder & Designer of Lexi Miller

Alexis began her journey with road biking after an unfortunate back injury which caused her to stop running. Spin classes became a way for her to get back into fitness, but a desire for being outdoors was still an objective. So with the encouragement of her girlfriends, she purchased a road bike. Unfortunately, she had become disappointed in the way shop owners were not open to catering to a woman’s form as they are accustomed to providing to a male dominated clientele in a male dominated sport. After a series of failed attempts, she found a local bike shop owned by a woman who graciously assisted her in the purchase. “Despite poor experiences, the love I have for biking was far greater than what had occurred,” she shared with me.

Alexis entered the cycling community at the age of thirty and her recreation grew into a healthy regimen which today includes a daily ride from San Francisco’s lower height neighborhood of the Fillmore, to the historic stature of the Golden Gate Bridge and Marin County. Alexis rides wearing one of her online best-sellers, a wrapture jersey made of luxurious Italian performance fabric paired with her tailored dual layer tweener leggings. “I started this collection with the intention of creating a form of femininity and function in an industry that has been watered down and male driven.” With every design idea developing with the influence of what Alexis refers to as the “outside” world, she embraces those creative elements into the overall function of her designs. “We must understand that all form does follow function, but that doesn’t mean we must conform to items that lack femininity and style.” With a collection that adds details from subtle inspiration such as the Diane von Furstenberg iconic 1974 wrap dress, the midsection of the wrapture jersey finds the right balance in comfort and utility. “I wanted to add something to the midsection to give a subtle detail which wouldn’t take away function from its initial purpose,” says Alexis.
The athletic apparel industry has an unjustified way of taking existing styles compiled by the traditional men’s jersey. “This means taking in the waist, maybe adding a floral pattern — I’ve found there were no darts or style lines with these current manufactured designs making them very plain. When you wear something this form fitting you want something that fits to you,” explains Alexis. A brand such as Lexi Miller challenges competitors with the idea of authenticity in which women can appreciate clothing that fit and flatter their bodies without sacrificing function as a whole. With a series of samples that are all personally worn and adjusted by Alexis herself for accuracy in fit, she finds that it takes up to three samples to get each design right. During this process, ideas will form from those test fittings. “I’ve noticed since the start of Lexi Miller more and more women utter the phrase that’s beautiful, I’ve never seen anything like this before.”

After a successful run this past year, Alexis predicts for this year ahead that cycling apparel will continue to catch up to other sports in the improvement of femininity in style. “With more and more women finding individual encouragement, I hope retailers will begin to have a better vision and understanding of apparel women want to wear on their bike.

Photos from Lexi Miller[/x_text][/x_column][/x_row][/x_section]