Remember 1896? You should

We’ve been looking back at the history of the Olympics and it hit us just how absurd our situation is.

Since the first modern Games in 1896 (held in Athens, naturally), shooting has been a constant. Back then there were only 9 sports involved – shooting was one of them. While other sports have come and gone like fashion trends, we’ve been there since the beginning.

So you’d think that over the last 130 years participants would have a huge range of apparel to choose from top to toe – literally.

But clay shooting is actually the biggest Olympic sport without a dedicated performance apparel brand.

Think about that for a second.

While Speedo owns the pool and Nike owns the track, who owns the shooting grounds?

Up until now, nobody.

Mainstream media loves to overlook the sport of shooting, at times blaming it for all that’s wrong with the world. But the data reveals a different story – a hidden giant.

Sporting clays isn’t a niche hobby; it’s a global community of over 25 million athletes.

The rate of participation and psychological commitment to our kit mirrors the elite cycling market and even outpaces golf by some metrics.

The number of people shattering targets is growing – and it isn’t just ‘more of the same’ either. We’re seeing a massive global shift, with shooting becoming increasingly popular among women and younger participants. In fact, 15 million of us are found in just seven countries and there’s another 10 million or so in countries like India, South Korea and Scandinavia.

We’re a more concentrated and higher-spending community than almost any other outdoor sport.

But remember what you just read – our sport doesn’t have a single dedicated performance apparel brand.

It’s honestly a bit of a joke that while we benefit from precision-engineered hardware and high-performance coaching – we’ve even started benefitting from specialist software like Aimpoint – our clothing options have barely changed since those inaugural Olympics in 1896.

(OK, maybe they have changed a bit but you get the point).

Where’s our technical apparel like Rapha creates for cyclists and Footjoy makes for golfers?

Most of us are forced to choose between heritage tweed that feels like fancy dress or generic sports gear that can actually hinder us.

None of these pieces identifies us as part of the vibrant global shooting community. Let alone help us smoke more clays.

There simply isn’t a brand out there that offers the same for shooters as Speedo offers to swimmers and Nike offers to runners.

Or should we say “There simply wasn’t a brand out there…”?

We’re changing the game for clay shooters around the world.

We’ve spent three years putting in the groundwork to ensure PAIR DEAD isn’t just another clothing line, but the technical home for our sport.

We’re building something new & exciting because we’re tired of being the only competitors represented at the Olympics without the gear to match our ambition.

It’s time our apparel helps us perform and gives us the look of the athletes we are, on and off range.

PS – if you want to be the first to know when the launch range drops this summer, throw your email address into the form below and we’ll give you a heads-up.