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The WHOOP Podcast

Introducing Project Terrain: Engineering The Future Of Performance with Samuel Ross

12 min episode · 2 min read
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Introducing Project Terrain,Samuel Ross

Episode

12 min

Read time

2 min

Topics

Fundraising & VC, Leadership, Design & UX

AI-Generated Summary

Key Takeaways

  • Function-first design: Every aesthetic decision in Project Terrain serves a technical purpose — perforations are placed specifically for breathability, hoods are structured to prevent wind tunneling during runs, and reflective 3M flex strips are embedded throughout for low-light visibility without requiring additional gear.
  • Seasonal color strategy: Each of the three collection chapters maps to a specific terrain environment. Chapter one uses slate, iron, and titanium tones for urban training. Chapter two shifts to rusts and deep browns for outdoor settings, creating a deliberate, evolving visual identity across releases.
  • Wearable integration by design: Garments are engineered with perforated cutouts specifically positioned to keep the WHOOP sensor visible on the wrist at all times, treating the hardware as a design element rather than concealing it beneath fabric — a deliberate departure from standard athletic apparel conventions.
  • Durability over perfection: Band materials use raised 3M pigment ink printing, reflective finishes, and textured grip surfaces to prioritize endurance and daily wearability. Ross frames the design ethos as tool-like — built to accumulate wear rather than maintain a pristine appearance over time.

What It Covers

WHOOP CEO Will Ahmed and designer Samuel Ross detail Project Terrain, a three-chapter seasonal apparel and band collection built around function-first design principles, technical fabrics from Italy, Japan, and South Korea, and wearable visibility integration.

Key Questions Answered

  • Function-first design: Every aesthetic decision in Project Terrain serves a technical purpose — perforations are placed specifically for breathability, hoods are structured to prevent wind tunneling during runs, and reflective 3M flex strips are embedded throughout for low-light visibility without requiring additional gear.
  • Seasonal color strategy: Each of the three collection chapters maps to a specific terrain environment. Chapter one uses slate, iron, and titanium tones for urban training. Chapter two shifts to rusts and deep browns for outdoor settings, creating a deliberate, evolving visual identity across releases.
  • Wearable integration by design: Garments are engineered with perforated cutouts specifically positioned to keep the WHOOP sensor visible on the wrist at all times, treating the hardware as a design element rather than concealing it beneath fabric — a deliberate departure from standard athletic apparel conventions.
  • Durability over perfection: Band materials use raised 3M pigment ink printing, reflective finishes, and textured grip surfaces to prioritize endurance and daily wearability. Ross frames the design ethos as tool-like — built to accumulate wear rather than maintain a pristine appearance over time.

Notable Moment

Ross compared spotting a WHOOP on another person's wrist to glimpsing a high-end tourbillon watch — a moment of recognition that drove his decision to design garments that actively frame and highlight the device rather than obscure it.

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Episode Transcript

We're excited to bring this collection to the world. It's all rooted in this idea of function. We're building this really beautiful system as a true garment and wearable design system between graphics and perforation that enables protection and endurance and also the Whoop hardware to be visible at all times. Who do you feel like is the right Whoop member for this collection? The movers and shakers of society, are the modern athlete and the professional athlete. But I also think about the everyday individual who's excelling in their training day in and day out. What's up, folks? If you care about health, performance, fitness, you may really enjoy getting a Whoop. You can check out Whoop at whoop.com. It measures everything around sleep, recovery, strain, and you can now sign up for free for thirty days. So you'll literally get a high performance wearable in the mail for free. You get to try it for thirty days to see whether you wanna be a member, and that is just at whoop.com. Back to the guests. I'm here with the very talented Samuel Ross. Samuel, you're gonna tell us all about this collaboration that we've done together. What is Project Terrain? You know, firstly, it's a joy to be here and actually dive into the design and garment process for both, you know, wearable and also garment. Project Terrain is this ethos, this vision we've been building which is about seasonal training. You know, we're gonna tell this over three chapters. And chapter one will include six different products which are really quite special. We focused on bringing in the highest level of, you know, Italian, Japanese, and South Korean technical fabrics. And it's about building a system that you can live with daily for training and for leisure. I love it, man. So let's let's dive in on the collection. You know, we have to start with with the jackets. Like, I've spent the past ten years of my, you know, career building technical jackets with specific millners. And all of those learnings have come into what we're building here. This is a lightweight jacket which, of course, has reinforced zips, perforation, and insulated pads throughout. And we're building this really beautiful system of a visual language, you could say, between graphics and perforation that enables the whoop hardware to be visible at all times. There's just like a really distinct and powerful silhouette, something that oozes this feeling of protection and endurance factored throughout. Well, I love the material, first of all. It's lightweight, but it also feels super protective. And you've got this incredible, almost like sheen that's coming off of it. You know, we were talking about this earlier. It's this feeling of being pronounced but also being discreet. There's a sense of vigilance that comes from these particular materials that we're choosing. We don't need to peacock or shout to make a really clear, impact in the market, and it feels so honest to …

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Books, tools, and gear mentioned in this episode

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Gear

  • by WHOOP

    Garments are engineered with perforated cutouts specifically positioned to keep the WHOOP sensor visible on the wrist at all times, treating the hardware as a design element rather than concealing it beneath fabric.

Products

  • by WHOOP

    WHOOP CEO Will Ahmed and designer Samuel Ross detail Project Terrain, a three-chapter seasonal apparel and band collection built around function-first design principles, technical fabrics from Italy, Japan, and South Korea, and wearable visibility integration.

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