Motion in every step.It’s not just a slogan.

The story started in 2023 while I was hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. Somewhere in Northern California, I was listening to the Czech podcast Život na treku, with Filip Raboch talking about sewing backpacks. That was the first moment I thought maybe I could learn to sew and make my own shelter one day.

Like many ideas from the trail, I wrote it down. Unlike most of them, this one stayed with me. About half a year after returning home from the PCT, I bought an old domestic sewing machine. It was older than I was. I started learning on it by making simple things like wallets, dry bags, and small pouches. Pretty quickly, I realized sewing a shelter was not what I really wanted to do.

The next shift came through another podcast, Ripstop on the Record. One episode focused on Polartec Alpha Direct, and that was the moment I knew I wanted to try sewing my own hoodie.

In fall 2024, I finally got hold of the fabric I had been thinking about, borrowed a domestic overlock machine from a colleague and started working on my first hoodie. It was a rough fight from start to finish, but I was genuinely proud of the result.

Later that same year, I made a hoodie for my girlfriend as a Christmas gift. It was the first time I adjusted the pattern to someone else’s fit preferences. At the end of the year, we tested both hoodies in the snowy Velebit mountains in Croatia, and we loved them.

At the beginning of 2025, I made a third hoodie for a taller friend who needed extra sleeve length and wanted a longer fit. Once again, I adjusted the pattern, and this time I also added my first front kangaroo pocket. That was the moment I knew what direction I wanted to follow.

In May 2025, I joined my girlfriend on the Sierra section of the PCT. On that trip, both the hoodie and a new pair of sweatpants became part of my own kit. By then, I already knew this was a material I could trust.

I brought my first larger batch of Alpha Direct fabric back from the United States in different weights and colors. My girlfriend brought a second batch later on. Together, that gave me the foundation I needed to start making hoodies you simply would not find on regular store shelves.

While working on the name, the logo and everything around the brand, I also realized that I did not want to sew a material this good on domestic machines forever. By that time, I already had four of them at home. So I decided to invest in industrial sewing machines, tools I trust for their precision and consistency.

That is how FORTOOTO gradually came to life.