Alite Designs
Our Story
We're a small group of rabblerousers that wants you to go outside more! Since our home base is San Francisco we know first hand that city living is a lame excuse for being cooped up. Magical outdoor fun is all around us, no matter the location. And we make a bunch of cool stuff that helps you get out there!
Our Products
Our outdoor gear can be found in any fine outdoor retailer nationwide. (Here’s a list!) If you’re not near any of these retailers, you can always pick up any Alite products online in the Alite web store. AND, if you are a Bay Area native, then we highly encourage you to visit the Alite Outpost, our local retail storefront, on Fridays from 12-6pm, located at 2505 Mariposa Street. If you are brand new to the world of camping and outdoor, then come talk to us about your upcoming outdoor excursion ideas, figure out the proper gear for your next trip, and ask about good places to go as you venture into the fresh air!
Our Commitment to Excellent Design
Alite Designs is all about well-designed products that are extremely functional and ridiculously fun and easy to use. Our award-winning Monarch chair weighs a mere pound, collapses to the size of super burrito for easy travel, and can sit on almost any terrain (level or not). Our Sexy Hotness sleeping bags let you walk around, use the outdoor lavatory, and zip up with other fellow (or fella) Sexy Hotness sleeping bag inhabitants to make room for two! Hell, you can zip as many bags together as you like… we don’t judge. And our outdoor cooking utensil, the Clover Cook set, includes both a stirring spoon and spatula that combine to form tongs! This utensil nails all of your cooking needs in one handy set of utensils that nest together for easy organization and portability. All products from Alite are designed to get you excited about going outside!
Our Commitment to Community
Alite Designs is very much about promoting our wonderful Bay Area community! We make a point to work with local, like-minded makers and organizations to produce amazing collaborative products, promote fun events, and raise money for causes that are close to us. We also practice ethical, sustainable manufacturing processes and produce special product lines exclusively here in San Francisco.
About Tae Kim
Alite Designs was founded by Tae Kim. He grew up in Alaska, and we think the prolonged periods of long days and longer nights may have loosened a few screws in his skull. As a young man, when Tae wasn’t trying to win a date with one of the only three females living in Alaska, he was following his crazy Alaskan uncle on expeditions into the wilderness. (Think Grizzly Man with a twist of Mr. Rogers, and you have an idea of Tae’s uncle.) These education trips into nature were the genesis of his love for the outdoors. In order to encourage this same passion in others, Tae started designing for the outdoor market. He spent eight years as design director for The North Face before starting Alite Designs. The idea behind Alite is to encourage easy outdoor activity that doesn’t require a passport, all-weather apparel, and sharp metal objects for scaling death-defying gradients. If the outdoor activity proves more difficult than finding a beach, setting up a chair, and popping the top on a longneck, then Alite generally steers clear. As creative director, Tae conceives and oversees all product design for Alite.
Though Alite has only been producing products for three years, you can already observe the influence of Tae Kim’s designs in the outdoor market through the proliferation of walk-around sleeping bags to ultra lightweight, collapsible furniture.
Tae Kim is also founder and creative director for Boreas Gear, an adventure backpack and gear company also based in San Francisco.
