Back in 1995 Thunderpants was born. A much loved baby whose parents had high aspirations for their new child.

Thunderpants was nurtured in our lovely seaside Nelson home. Adorned with block prints and lovingly stitched, Thunderpants made their debut being exhibited at Sub Gallery. There was much furore- many admiring the beauty and comforting qualities while others were affronted by the sheer gall of these cheeky unders being so bold, comfortable and enormous. The Thunder parents glowed with pride as their offspring provided such comfort and joy without any regard for all the usual underwear trappings of scratchy lace, synthetic threads and the smallest of smalls being gazed upon by others. Thunderpants are unashamedly here for YOU.

Returning to the homeland of South Wairarapa we settled into rural life making a home for Thunderpants at our Martinborough clothing store and even created a sibling, Thrive Clothing. We instilled Thunderpants with our values and a sense of humour. We embraced the idea that “it takes a village” as Thunderpants headed off all over the world to stores and customers who wrote loving letters of praise and gratitude, ideas and suggestions. Some even scolded our child if they had behaved badly so we quickly made sure our Thunder child understood the importance of facing your issues and making an apology.

Thunderpants were loud and unruly as a teen with such a high opinion of their self they thought they could be the best of everything to everybody. They were busy poking around into areas that they could have left to their sibling Thrive. Thunderpants blew up into so many different styles and were all over the place all the time. There was a lot of bluster and blow and some very tired parents who longed for their child to chill out and grow up. Their obsession with the internet led to a strong online presence and created a path where child and parents were finally back on track. Thrive left home and the rest of us could slow down a bit and enjoy some quality family time at last.

The twenties have been a joy. Our Thunder child has stuck to our family values of keeping things local, being living wage accredited and stepping as lightly as possible in an environmental sense. But Thunderpants has also expanded on this and taught us parents so much about diversity, fairness, tolerance and humanity along the way.

Thunderpants has matured into a rather fabulous ( we could be biased) 30 year old and as parents we could not be any more proud of the adult Thunderpants has become.