--- title: "The Beyond Stories: Portal" date: 2026-01-30T02:56:00-08:00 author: Luana Domanti canonical_url: "https://www.polartec.com/news/the-beyond-stories-portal" section: News Entries --- [Skip to Main Content](#main-content-wrapper) Accessibility Feedback Contact Us. ![Foreground Image](https://polartec-polartec.transforms.svdcdn.com/production/img/Polartec-BeyondStories-Portal-News-Entries-Details-950x1080.jpg?w=2048&h=2329&auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=crop&dm=1769770091&s=35505de1099ced4b52aca0a8c726338f) [ News Hub. ](https://www.polartec.com/news) Main Story. 01. 30. # Experience Stitched Into Every Seam. Polartec X Portal **Portal was created for people who move instinctively**, not according to categories. Founded in London by Patrick Stangbye, John Roberts, Colin Meredith, and Barrie Bloor, Portal embraces their deep love for unstructured movement. Having spent years in the performance and outdoor apparel industries, they were tired of seeing the lines harden between **cycling**, **running**, and **everyday wear**. Which is why today, Portal excels in designing functional apparel that supports the world’s most fluid, personal and unscripted movements. ### We Mind the Gap **Portal was founded as a response to something John, Berrie, Colin and Patrick felt was missing**. With decades of experience working across cycling, running, design, and brand building, they collectively agreed that people don’t just run or ride or hike, they live in the everyday. So, working from Oslo, Vancouver and back to London, **the team built a brand for modern explorers who live life in motion**, regardless of terrain or discipline. “*The intersection between sport and lifestyle has long overlapped and yet none of us could find a product we really wanted or needed to facilitate our multifaceted lives. We felt that if we could combine our knowledge and experience in sport + outdoor with desirable fits and tasteful colors, we would speak to the large and growing audience of users that we believe are looking for the same things that we are. And that through this blurring of boundaries, movement can become free and undefined.*” ![2 Polartec Beyond Stories Portal 768x768](https://polartec-polartec.transforms.svdcdn.com/production/img/2-Polartec-BeyondStories-Portal-768x768.jpg?w=450&h=450&auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=crop&dm=1769770534&s=9de22c99ee2120748420cee810f3eeaf) ![3 Polartec Beyond Stories Portal 768x768]() ![4 Polartec Beyond Stories Portal 768x768]() ![5 Polartec Beyond Stories Portal 768x768]() ![6 Polartec Beyond Stories Portal 768x768]() ### A Shared Philosophy From day one, Portal has been shaped by collaboration and clarity of roles. **John Roberts leads the business with a steady hand**, ensuring strategy and operations stay aligned with long-term intent. **Barrie Bloor brings the brand to life through digital and physical design**, crafting a cohesive experience across every touchpoint. **Patrick Stangbye steers the creative vision**, defining how Portal shows up visually and culturally. **And with a background in fashion, technical apparel and outdoor life, Colin Meredith engineers every piece** in the collection from ideation and innovation all the way to bulk production. Together, they respect the brands that inspired them while pushing beyond what already exists. ### Action-backed Designs Portal is essentially a gateway to the outdoors. **For Colin Meredith, this means that design is inseparable from lived experience**. Raised on Vancouver Island, his lifelong relationship with the outdoors influences and informs just about every decision he makes. **He runs daily, races trails and ultras, rides bikes, kayaks, and fishes, and a nice cold dip in the ocean whenever time allows**. Among the layers he returns to, repeatedly, is the **Loam Fleece, built with Polartec® 200 Series recycled fleece**. Valued for its lightweight **warmth and durability** it has become a dependable constant across changing seasons and conditions. ### A Community in Motion We asked Colin if he thinks that the brand today still embodies the original mission, given that the team originally met while working together on a big cycling apparel project and the answer was a hard yes. **All four founders compete in running and/or cycling races and prioritize spending time outside in nature**, which is why they are stoked to create products that make our relationship with the outdoors even easier and more enjoyable. This same thinking is woven into Portal’s organic-looking brand symbol, whose flower shape represents the natural outdoors while doubling as an activity heat-map or Strava route. “*We like to imagine that someone might live at the center of the symbol, and the routes radiating from the center are trails or paths that this person has run / hiked/ biked. It’s a very direct root back to the activities that the brand was created for.*” ### The Path Beyond Today, Portal’s community wears its Polartec-built pieces across continents and conditions. It reflects a shared mindset that both people and brands are defined by the choices they make over time. In this space, **Portal and Polartec align naturally around purposeful innovation**, **products made to las**t, **and the belief that the outdoors is not a destination, but part of everyday life**. Share. 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