Inside Cimoro, Maker of Custom Ultralight Backpacks & Sought-After Apparel

When I first spoke with Alasdair Leighton-Crawford, founder of Cimoro, I could hardly hear him over the roar of industrial sewing machines. He was in his London studio, working late to finish samples of the brand’s covetable ultralight backpacks. I was prepared to ask a question about Cimoro’s kaleidoscopic tagline: “Future Master Craftsman.” But after just a few minutes of speaking with Alasdair, it didn’t feel necessary. I understood completely.

Under Cimoro—an abbreviation of “City, Mountain, Road”—Alasdair creates intentionally designed, often custom, outdoor gear with the help of emerging technologies like 3D body scanning. After developing a reputation—and cult following—for making beautiful, sleek, and distinctly modern running vests and backpacks for ultralight hiking—a niche world with deep roots in cottage manufacturing—the small brand has big plans to employ these innovations with a deeper dive into the world of apparel design.

But before we go there, let's take a step back.

As a former professional athlete on Great Britain's rowing team, Alasdair first learned to sew after an injury to keep busy in his recovery. The same focused drive that fueled his athletic career propelled this new hobby into an apprenticeship on Savile Row—London’s famous bespoke tailoring district. Under strict tutelage from master tailors, Alasdair learned the art of precise measurements, pattern making, and fabric selection, while developing a deep understanding of how fit affects mobility.

Many craftsmen peers of Alasdair stayed in the prestigious suitmaking field, others took their skills into high fashion. Alasdair decided to combine his more outdoorsy interests and make custom athletic wear. “Clothing [has] a big impact on people's ability to perform in sport—whether it be comfort, safety, or mitigating risk,” he tells me. So he started to envision a bespoke sportswear and gear brand that could help athletes reach their true potential. He left Saville Row and enrolled in the London College of Fashion, where he graduated with a degree in Active Sportswear in 2013. Soon after, he was working on large-scale projects for other reputable companies—he developed flame-retardant fabrics for McLaren and created tactile products for DNS Alpha in Zurich, for example.

Alasdair created Cimoro in 2014, when he was 32 years old. The company launched with utilitarian bags for outdoor use, which you could either buy in fixed configurations or customize to your specific size and carry needs. The company website, which almost feels like a piece of avant garde visual art in itself, lists nearly every product’s specs with a postscript: “custom alterations are possible on these designs, please ask!” If you wanted a 20L pack for a fast-and-light thru-hike of the AZT or PCT, that's easy. How about a 1,000-fill down suit for the Lhotse Face in the Himalayas, tailored precisely to your body’s shape and articulation, Alasdair could make it happen, too. If you can dream it, he can make it.

The same sentiment applies to custom collaborations with brands, and has resulted in products like customized padel bags for British company Pulco Studios, eider down jackets with Iceland’s Ducking Warm, and a currently-in-the-works project with Khimaira Strategy Tactics. As an early Dyneema advocate, Alasdair worked with the material on a collaboration with Norda in 2022, creating an exceptionally breathable, waterproof running jacket weighing just 121 grams that had gear heads around the world talking.

Cimoro, which at the moment, is just Alasdair and one other employee, currently produces a tight product line of bags and accessories that includes multiple ultralight modular running vests, printed running caps made from Nikwax Analogy fabric, and a tri-point carabiner-style key ring. Many of the designs include details only someone with a deep understanding of tailoring could generate, like the mountain pack with a vest-style front that helps ensure it doesn’t bounce as you wear it, even when loaded up with water flasks, ice axes, and skis.

And here's where the future element of Alasdair's master craftsmanship comes in. To make the best possible bespoke sportswear, he is employing as many cutting edge techniques as he can. This includes bringing emergent 3D body-scanning technology to the brand. He’s recently implemented photogrammetry, a method of approximating a three-dimensional structure from two dimensional images. Roughly the same technology used at NOAA to record features of the sea floor, this technology captures exact measurements and subtle contours of the form, allowing for the creation of garments with superior articulation for wearer’s movement and intended use.

Unsurprisingly, Alasdair’s passion for research and education on emerging technology also spills into his textile decisions. He views the responsibility as his to use the most ethical materials available, and is transparent about his efforts to transition away from petroleum-based Dyneema once an as-durable biobased alternative emerges. He’s currently excited about a UK-based stronger-than-silk silk that is biodegradable and doesn't need a sacrificial worm. Though more R&D is still needed.

As part of the company’s commitment to sustainability, Alasdair says Cimoro owners are always welcome (and encouraged) to bring their gear back for repairs and touch ups over time, for a small fee to cover labor, materials, and return postage. “As a maker of gear, we need to do our bit,” he said. “Not [just] by talking about it, but by making it part of our company’s mandate.”

VISIT CIMORO to LEARN MORE