Our Story
The Fempro Armour Story
Back in 2019, a woman with hardly any off road motorcycling experience – but unlimited passion and craziness – participated in her first Simpson Desert (Australia) ride.
This ride was to raised funds and awareness for a anti bullying charity called Dolly’s Dream in memory of Amy Everett, a teen model who killed herself aged 14 after years of sick abuse from cyber bullies.
The experience was a magical one and one that I most certainly will never forget
Over the next 4 days, 12 female riders crossed the Simpson Desert from Birdville to Mt Dare via 1200 sand dunes.
During this ride, I found out, that my personal experience with protective gear was being shared amongst all of the women. One woman even rode without any, because she felt that wearing something that wasn’t designed for her body, that was uncomfortable to wear would distract her more, so she took the chance of not wearing any protective and potentially injuring herself.
Let’s face it, most female protective gear is being designed with the male shape in mind, sized down with a plash of pink, or being called “unisex”. Unfortunately a female body just doesn’t fit into a male designed garment.
12 brave women crossing the Simpson Desert for Dolly’s Dream
Showcasing our first plaster mold to different
3D prints of our Athena chest armour protector
On the way home to Brisbane, I decided to create female body armour for motocross, however I had no idea where to start. Over the next 12 month I did extensive research into many things such as;
- breast cancer, breast tissue injuries, breast lumps
- impact injuries, injury recover, and long-term effects of injuries
- fashion design, woman sizing, and garment construction
- impact force, and what different types of armour are on the market
- European impact certification and the list goes on.
During this research, I discovered that the problem women had in motocross gear, was shared in so many other sports, and even in the professional sector such as Defense Force, Law Enforcement, and also in Aged Care.
There were many obstacles to overcome, one big one was to find a manufacture that can deliver all the things I envisioned in our body armour protectors. About 15 global manufactures declined me as all of them said “what I wanted was impossible to do”. Call me stubborn German, but just because we don’t know how to do it, doesn’t mean we can’t work it out. Well I found an amazing one, and only an hour from my hometown in Germany. 🙂
We launched MissMxG (motocross) in December 2020, and re-launched in February 2021 as Fempro Armour. Since then we have gone from strength to strength. You can find us in motorcycling, horse riding, martial arts, AFL, Ruby League & Union, Aged Care and soon our female ballistic armour for the Defense Force will be also launched.
Front View of HQ with CEO & Founder Stephanie Bofinger
Within less than 3 years we have outgrown our 3-bedroom townhouse, and needed to find a larger facility that can accommodate our rapid growth. I
In May 2023 we decided to move to Kingaroy QLD and purchased the original Peanut factory.
HQ was established for Fempro & Bropro Armour with a
- 150sqm sewing room
- pretty cool looking showroom
- and a huge storage facility that give us lots of room to grow into
I am super proud to be an “Australian Made & Owned” company that employs locals, as this was one way we can grow and give back into our community, as well the quality of products with its German technology.
Thanks for reading our story, and if you ever in Kingaroy drop in and say hello 🙂
Cheers Stephanie
