Toowoomba woman Kym O’Leary’s innovative HMZ garment start-up capturing global mining sector after trade show success

A Toowoomba business owner’s patent-pending invention could change women’s workwear across the world — and the inspiration was from a bag of chook feed.

Opening a bag of chicken feed was all the inspiration Kym O’Leary needed to develop an invention that could revolutionise women’s uniforms for the global mining industry.

The Toowoomba owner of women’s workwear company COgear says her latest innovation HMZ (pronounced hems) is already attracting buyers from across the world as the energy sector looks to increase its female workforce.

The patent-pending invention for pants, which was developed over two years, allows the wearer to adjust the legs to four different lengths for their body height while also ensuring the garment is perfectly hemmed.

The innovation allow all men and women can have workwear that fits, not only ensuring safety compliance but also improving comfort and reducing energy consumption.

COgear owner and HMZ inventor Kym O'Leary shows her innovative design that enables a customer to adjust the length of their pants to suit their height with just one pull of a tab, Friday, November 10, 2023. Picture: Kevin Farmer

Ms O’Leary, who has been developing women’s workwear for mining companies since 2013 including the first maternity hi-vis apparel, said she was prompted to create HMZ when asked by BHP in 2019 to create COgear pants for not just 12 different sizes but also four different lengths.

“BHP said they wanted the same choices (size and length) for women as they did for men (but) being a small business, I couldn’t afford to bring in 48 different pairs of pants, so I developed a system of how to create four different lengths of women’s pants from one item,” she said.

“It’s all manufactured offshore and our COgear size range is 4-26 so to offer that in different length options, you have to multiply your stock (by four), so we thought there had to be a better way.

“Making clothes creates a lot of waste and uses a lot of energy, so we tried to do things in a simpler and more sustainable manner (and) we now offer a pair of pants with four different size options.”

When faced with the question of how to create this product without compromising the hem, Ms O’Leary said a conversation with her husband sparked her invention.

“My husband, who grew up on a farm asked, ‘have you ever opened a bag of grain?’ and I told him I had for chicken feed,” she said.

COgear owner Kym O'Leary at the A+A trade show in Dusseldorf, Germany in November 2023, promoting her HMZ (patent-pending) workwear technology.

“When you open a bag of grain, if you pull the thread one way, it releases and that’s what started the idea.

“It took 12 months to get the provisional patent and another 12 months to get it working in the factory.”

Ms O’Leary said HMZ was a hit with potential customers at the A+A in Germany this month, the world’s leading workplace health and safety trade show.

“We came back last week and are in negotiations with companies that have headquarters in Sydney, Christchurch, New York and Chicago (to license HMZ),” she said.

“It’s a very exciting time, we’ve just got to keep our head down and deliver what we say we can now.

“We’ve got a national distributor, Blackwoods, and with their team of 300 sales people, they’ve got a big network that’s pushing our COgear.

“Our motto is pretty straight forward – women should never be uncomfortable at work.”

While she is focused on the commercial market right now, Ms O’Leary said HMZ had civilian applications as well.

“Right now, it fits well in the uniform space, but down the track, the application is it’s great for jeans and kids uniforms,” she said.

“We’ve got to stay focused on our current market, and once we’ve done that, we’ll move on.”

COgear owner and HMZ inventor Kym O'Leary shows her innovative design that enables a customer to adjust the length of their pants to suit their height with just one pull of a tab, Friday, November 10, 2023. Picture: Kevin Farmer