The Daily - Day 1 - June 18, 2019 - 34

Ideas
B I G

T R E N D S

Clockwise from top left: GoLite's Re-Green
Windshell, Helly Hansen's Odin 3D Air Shell
Jacket, Smartwool's Merino Sport Ultralight Hoodie, Ortovox's Serac 3L.

Breathe Easy

Innovative membranes and sustainable
stories define tomorrow's shell jackets.
By Berne Broudy
IN SHELL JACKETS, THE FUTURE IS

highly breathable pieces with nonbranded membranes that blur the
line between hard and soft shell.
Look for clean design and manufacturing that's creative, innovative, and truly sustainable.
INSANE IN THE MEMBRANE
At January's Snow Show, The
North Face grabbed the spotlight
with its launch of Futurelight,
an electrostatic membrane that
achieves waterproof and breathable
tunability through nanospinning
techniques. Athletes at the Show
shared stories of its 8,000-meter
peak debut. This new eco-friendly membrane is impressive, but
it's also paving the way for the
mainstream adoption of proprietary-membranes industry-wide.
With "waterproof-breathable"
no longer the exclusive purview
of Gore-Tex, jackets can be more
creatively designed in the pursuit of
enhanced breathability.
The North Face keeps the
Futurelight momentum going
with the 3-layer Arque Active Trail
and Apex Flex. Black Diamond
is making more jackets with its
B-Dry membrane, such as the
HighLine Stretch Shell, a highly
breathable waterproof softshell
that feels good on bare skin. Outdoor Research's stretchy MicroGravity Jacket promises to raise
the bar for breathable rain shells.
"Comfort and breathability in
waterproof jackets continue to im-

prove," says Alex Lauver, Outdoor
Research's director of commercial
innovation. The company's AscentShell fabric strikes a balance
between weather protection and
breathability so that you can
keep it on while moving through
changing conditions. Also look for
Helly Hansen's Odin 3D Air Shell
Jacket, a waterproof, windproof,
breathable shell with a 3D printed
backing that keeps it light like a
2-layer piece but with the durability of a 3-layer jacket.
SUSTAINABLE STORY
Sustainable manufacturing isn't
just trendy, say outdoor brands:
It's the only acceptable manufacturing solution. The industry is
discovering that moving toward
earth-friendly manufacturing
and materials also makes business sense as consumers demand
eco-friendly products. GoLite, for
one, uses hard-to-recycle green
plastic bottles in its Re-Green
Windshell. "By making the fabric
from recycled green bottles, we
save over 50% of the energy normally required to make the fabric,"
says Janine Robertson, GoLite
spokesperson. "Finally, recycled
fibers, fabrics, and finishes are
catching up and have the same
performance as non-earth-friendly
alternatives."
They're also no longer priced
too high to be viable. "We're seeing
improved availability of recycled
nylons, especially smaller denier

/ SUMMER MARKET 2019

fabrics that used to be hard to find
or expensive," says Outdoor Research's Lauver. "Now we can buy
them at almost no price increase.
Low water-dye methods are getting
better color registration and more
colors are available."
The aforementioned Black Diamond HighLine Stretch Shell exemplifies compromise-free technical
performance, employing low-impact materials like Green Theme
International's PFC-free DWR. The
finish is not only free of harmful
chemicals, but it uses no water in its
manufacturing and it's substantially
more durable than other DWRs on
the market, the company says.
EARTH-INSPIRED COLORS
"We're getting back to basics and
not overthinking silhouettes and
style, going for shells that are modern, sleek, refined, and that take

texture and color design cues from
the environment," says Sue Jesch,
Smartwool director of design.
Smartwool's Merino Sport
Ultra Light Hoodie uses a light-reflective landscape-inspired print
that picks up the textures of the
gravel underfoot-whether you're
on the road or on the trail. Ortovox's color palette is similarly
inspired by the places people use
outdoor gear. "Instead of following
fashion trends, we just look around
ourselves when we are in the
mountains-at the blue sky, glacier
ice, the light from the sun, mountain flowers, birds," says Thomas
Moe, Ortovox's head designer.
"Color inspiration also comes as we
try to cultivate our inner self and
do more of what makes us happy.
That's our guiding light." Check
out Ortovox's Serac 3L to see for
yourself what Moe means.

The Daily - Day 1 - June 18, 2019

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