Dapper Wraps: Escaping the Music Festival Heat [Interview]
BY CAT MARTINEZ
It doesn’t matter if you’re riding the rail, dancing in the pit of the crowd or chilling in the back, it’ll be difficult to escape the heat at these music festivals that happen during the hotter months of the year. The weather at Imagine Music Festival this weekend is projected to be in the upper 80s and low 90s range, but being surrounded by massive amounts of asphalt at the Atlanta Motor Speedway may make it feel even hotter.
That’s where Jason Born, owner of Dapper Wraps and Dapper Plugs, comes in to save your weekend. Based out of our very own Athens, GA, Jason Born offers uniquely designed quality cooling towels to help keep you cool so you can dance away under the sun as well as ear plugs to protect your hearing from bass heavy decibels. If you’re attending Imagine, you can find him at the Lucid Bazaar vendor booth in the festival campgrounds.
We got the opportunity to sit down with Born and discover how a dream turned into a successful business:
Where does the name Dapper Wraps come from?
I think my mom came up with the name to be honest (if you’re reading this… hi Debi!). I had an idea for the product and wanted the name to be something fun to say. I like the way that “Dapper Wraps” rolls off of the tongue. They look cool and you put it around your neck, and the name sums that up.
Why did you start Dapper Wraps?
I came up with the idea at Bonnaroo 2016. Shows that I wanted to see were going on, but I was too miserable from the heat to enjoy this music festival that I paid a small fortune to attend. My long-time friend Jon Caulk had been selling prints of his artwork, so I joked about how someone should put Jon’s artwork on cooling towels and sell them at festivals. The joke turned into research, the research turned into a business plan, and the business plan turned into Dapper Wraps.
For a while, I only sold the towels online and to friends. In 2018, I started vending cooling towels at music festivals and realized that that was the best way to sell my product. In the past year and a half, I’ve had a booth at 11 music festivals.
I decided that I wanted to sell earplugs at my booth as well, but every company that sold earplugs in wholesale quantities was either charging way too much or not delivering a product that I would be proud to sell. So I cut out the middleman and Dapper Plugs was born.
Is it just you or do you have partners?
It’s just me, but when I vend at festivals I always bring a friend along to help out and to go see music with when the booth isn’t open.
What is your favorite thing about running Dapper Wraps?
The people! The best part about selling cooling towels is the customers come back later to rewet their towels. This means that I get to interact with my customers many times throughout the weekend. They tell me stories, what their favorite set was from the night before, what their goals and aspirations are and everything in between. I love how much music I get to see through working with Dapper Wraps and Dapper Plugs, but the people are the subject of my fondest memories.
What are some challenges you’ve faced since starting Dapper Wraps?
I don’t know if this counts as a challenge, but it pains me deeply when I have to miss seeing one of my favorite artists because I’m in the vendor booth. First world festival problems.
When the company was just starting up, trying to find the best towel material and manufacturer was really stressful. If the towels didn’t have the right look and feel, then the whole dream would be over before it started. There’s a pile of subpar cooling towel samples that are all sitting on the floor of my closet.
Nowadays, the biggest challenge we have to deal with is the weather. If a festival that is typically hot miraculously cools down one year (I’m looking at you, Bonnaroo), then it’s a lot harder to make sales. An even worse situation is when it rains because most people are more focused on staying dry rather than staying cool.
Having said all of that, the absolute worst day of vending is still filled with music and meeting countless amazing people, so I have nothing to complain about.
What products do you currently offer?
Our newest cooling towel design was created by Rebecca Gerhard and is available in pink lemonade, avocado, blueberry, and banana (warning: please do not eat the towels. I just thought it sounded cooler to call them flavors rather than colors; please don’t sue me). Our original design by Jon Caulk is only available in blueberry.
We have high-fidelity earplugs available as well, which come with 2 different sizes, 21 dB sound filter, a neck cable and an aluminum carrying case.
Where can people purchase or find Dapper Wraps products?
Dapper Wraps and Dapper Plugs are available on the Dapper Wraps website and Dapper Plugs website. Dapper Wraps will be available at the Lucid Bazaar booth in the Imagine Music Festival campground vendor area for $15 and Dapper Plugs high-fidelity earplugs are available for $20 as well.
When we have our entire 2020 festival schedule, we will post it on our Facebook, Instagram, and our website.
What’s next for Dapper Wraps?
More music festival vendor booths, more designs, more colors, more giveaways, more friends, and more music. I’ve been truly blessed with the continued support from our fanbase which motivates me to keep Dapper Wraps and Dapper Plugs growing in a way that helps people enjoy music in the safest way possible.
