By: Sofia Chassomeris, News Writer
SFU Beedie student Vansh Sobti has designed an “anxiety hoodie” for his clothing brand Cloud Nine Clothing. Sobti’s clothing line was created to provide “ultimate comfort and relaxation” for students with their mental health in mind. The hoodie features a “discrete stress ball” in the cuffs of its sleeves and is made with a heavy fabric to help soothe the wearer.
In an interview with The Peak, Sobti explained how he came up with the idea for his hoodie in 2021, when he set out to buy something similar for himself. “I was trying to find different fidget tools or different ways of fidgeting without drawing attention,” he said. He found himself fidgeting at school, but could not find a product that suited his needs.
“That’s when I saw a gap in the market,” he continued. “If I want something that’s discreet, that won’t catch people’s eyes, there’s probably more people like that that would benefit from this.”
Sobti began experimenting with prototypes and eventually landed on the current design: sleeves with hidden and strategically-placed stress balls in the cuffs. A new, patent-pending design, the anxiety hoodie offers an alternative to traditional fidget tools. He emphasized in his product pitch that discretion is part of Cloud Nine’s mission to promote better mental health and make people feel more comfortable in public.
He also said the hoodies would aid undergraduates with anxiety and ADHD.
Aside from the sewn-in stress balls, the anxiety hoodies are also “slightly heavy-weight.” Sobti compares the material’s effect to a weighted blanket, saying the weight of the hoodie “helps trigger the autonomic nervous system into ‘rest mode.’” The autonomic nervous system is responsible for the body’s unconscious functions including the “rest-and-digest” processes which physically calm the body. A recent review of the hoodie shared that, “It’s so soft and cozy, and the weight feels great; it’s not smothering at all, just comforting.”
Sobti shared that after the hoodie’s launch in 2023, there were a couple of months without any orders, but he persevered. Since then, Sobti has gained over 150,000 followers across Instagram and TikTok and received over 2000 orders. He also expressed his interest in making his hoodies available in therapy studios and collaborating with universities like SFU to make the anxiety hoodies official school merchandise.
“If no-one else sees the potential, but you do, just keep going,” he said. “[Don’t] let outside criticism stop you from what you know you can do.” Sobti added, “If you see a vision, just execute it.”
