RompHim co-creator shades Reebok’s upcoming male romper

Rob Smith
·Producer/Writer

A group of Northwestern MBA students broke the internet a few weeks back with their take on the male romper. After ACED Design’s RompHim raised over $360,000 from an initial $10,000 Kickstarter goal, everyone had an opinion.

But it turns out ACED’s isn’t the only romper in town. Reebok has apparently hopped on the romper trend. According to its website, the sportswear brand’s upcoming $89 male romper “ReeRomp” is due in mid June, though their website doesn’t have a photo of the finished product.

However, two of ACED Design’s co-founders, Elaine Chen and Chip Longenecker, aren’t worried. “There’s always going to be competition, especially in the fashion industry,” Chen said. However, Longenecker wasn’t exactly as diplomatic when prodded about the ReeRomp. “I think it’s a compliment from Reebok,” he said. “I haven’t personally heard from Reebok in about 10 years, so when I heard it I thought, ‘Oh, this company’s still around.’”

Chen and Longenecker spoke with Yahoo Finance’s Rob Smith about the inspiration for RompHim, what it feels like to go viral, and what they really think about the “ReeRomp.”