Winter Outerwear - Amazon Web Services

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winter outerwear
the
BY DOUG SCHNITZSPAHN
»
Can the
sustainable-fabric
revolution succeed
in performance
outerwear?
SITTING IN A BOULDER, COLO., CAFÉ,
I spotted a woman wearing a Nau brand jacket just as I happened to be reading a message
about the company on an industry blog. It seemed
that Nau, the high-minded, sustainability-as-mission-statement newcomer in
performance apparel, was selling mid-layer garments for 30-percent off on
its website. An anonymous poster on the blog expressed concern that if Nau
can’t make it, the future of sustainable outdoor business is dim.
Doing a little impromptu market research, I asked the woman whether she liked her
jacket. She said she did, and it turned out she was using it exactly how the company
wants it to be used, both to hop around in downtown Pearl Street cafes and to get out
in bad weather in the mountains. “It’s an amazing company. They donate five percent
of sales to charity. But,” she admitted, “I got a deal on it.”
Then it occurred to me: This woman right in front of me represented the three factors
that will determine the future of green performance apparel. First, there is the outdoor
industry, which has the most to lose from catastrophic global climate changes and environmental degradation, but still relies on damaging fluorocarbons to create its performance fabrics. Second, you have a few forward-thinking companies trying to make
garments and gear by reinventing how the business works. And, in the middle, stands
the consumer, who dearly wants to buy green but primarily wants something that
performs well in the elements and is also affordable. If the outdoor industry could get
all three of these factors in sync, we might see the end of days when performance fabrics
are dependent on crude oil. One of the greatest challenges is making eco-friendly fabrics
that actually work well in the field.
PHOTO COURTESY OF NAU
BETWEEN THE THREADS
Despite controversies over sourcing and growing, food crops have become the trendy focus
of sustainable fabrics—everything from corn, to soy, to bamboo, to coconuts. Even mainstream brands such as Izod, which has integrated Traptek’s coconut-based Cocona into
a performance line, are picking up on these food fibers. Likewise, traditional natural fabrics
such as organic cotton, hemp and merino wool have had a resurgence as technical
performers. Many of these non-synthetic fabrics work well for base layers or even wind
shells, but they won’t cut it in true performance outerwear shells along the lines of traditional Gore-Tex, Event, Schoeller and other proprietary waterproof/breathable fabrics,
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Patagonia Rubicon Pants »
such as The North Face’s Hyvent or
Marmot’s PreCip. The synthetics simply
win out in nasty conditions.
The one eco-material that has taken center
stage when it comes to providing high
performance in shells is ironically a petroleum product—recycled polyester. The big
innovation that has made recycled polyester
viable and apparel garments possible has
been the evolution of 100-percent recycled
polyester filament yarns. These “green” yarns,
like Unifi’s Repreve, are created from a combination of post-industrial and post-consumer
content. They have the same moisturewicking and dyeing properties of standard
poly used in, say, a performance soft shell, as
opposed to the spun yarn used in Patagonia’s
first-generation Synchilla fleece, which had
a reputation for being bulky, more costly and
inconsistent in quality.
Patagonia, Polartec and Japanese yarn
supplier Teijin upped the ante at Outdoor
Retailer Summer Market in 2005, when
Patagonia announced it would collect old
polyester Capilene underwear and recycle
it into new product. The program expanded
to include poly from any brand in 2007.
Patagonia is no longer the only brand in
the game. Working with Teijin and Unifi,
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Polartec has been creating recycled
poly fabric versions of all its offerings
(including high performers like
Polartec Power Dry and Polartec
Power Stretch) and become a driving
force in recycled poly. Polartec has
formed partnerships with various
brands, including Patagonia, MEC,
REI, L.L. Bean, Nau, Aigle USA, Millet,
Eider, Quiksilver, Prana and Shebeest.
And that’s just the beginning. Polartec
expects recycled fabric to increase to 20
percent of its total production in 2008 and
an even higher percentage in 2009.
But recycled poly alone is still not the
answer to the sustainable performance
conundrum. The big problem when it comes
to creating so-called green storm shells is not
in the threads—rather, it’s in the membranes,
laminates and finishes, the all-important
chemically created layers in the apparel that
make all those fancy, light, waterproof/breathable shells so darn attractive.
The biggest environmental offender in
this respect has been perfluorinated
compounds, better known as PFCs—
chemical treatments based on the
extremely reactive element fluorine. PFCs,
which can be quite stable and sport a low
coefficient of friction, impart all-impor-
tant stick-and-stain resistant
properties on thin membranes—
think the plastic packaging on
frozen pizzas or microwave
popcorn. Unfortunately, PFCs
don’t break down very well once
they’re in the environment,
ending up in high concentrations in the bodies of polar bears
particularly, as well as in the
systems of most humans. PFCs
are also very good at making outdoor
apparel repel water. Perfluorooctane
sulfonate, known as PFOS, was essential
to the production of Scotchguard until
3M phased it out in 2002. Another PFC,
pentadecafluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA,
is used to create polytetrafluoroethylene
(PTFE)—a.k.a DuPont’s Teflon. Gore-Tex,
Event and other highly effective waterproof/breathable fabrics are basically
porous forms of PTFE.
Studies and field tests have shown that
this stuff works amazingly well in the
elements. And customers who want the
qualities they know PTFE membranes
deliver, even if they don’t know the
acronym, are extremely hesitant to stray
from what they know works. The big drawback of PTFE is it doesn’t break down.
Unlike worn-out polyester long underwear,
which Teijin can recycle into new polyester material, waterproof/breathable
jackets can’t be recycled.
There are precious few sustainable alternatives to PTFE available to manufacturers.
The most prominent is DuPont’s Active
Layer, a waterproof/breathable film that is
recyclable if used with recycled polyester,
which debuted at Outdoor Retailer Summer
Market in 2005 and is used by Patagonia.
There has also been an emerging trend to
use water-based, biodegradable thermal
polyurethane (TPU) coatings instead of
more toxic polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Fabric
supplier Harrison Technologies has created
a TPU-coated fabric for gloves. And Toray
Industries in Japan, which already produces
a recycled nylon used in Patagonia’s
Workender pants, is introducing Entrant E,
a waterproof/breathable, aqueous polyurethane (PU) laminate that does not
require PFOA solvents to produce.
“There are some PFOA-free DWRs
currently in the market, but they have limitations when it comes to durability. Since
most people equate DWR durability to
outerwear performance, this is a serious
issue for outerwear companies. Should
they compromise on a critical function of
their outerwear in order to eliminate
PFOA?” said Kenny Gotcher, sales manager
of Toray. “Membranes and coatings have
unfortunately become commodity items,
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few people are willing to pay the premium
required for these technologies. Currently,
the market is only willing to bear about a
10-percent premium for green products.
In the case of Toray’s Entrant E, solventfree processing, it is available now,
however, the cost is a very limiting factor.”
Swedish performance brand Klattermusen—which is so concerned with sustainability that its website’s home page warns,
“Don’t buy a jacket unless you need one!”
and the company is phasing out the use of all
PTFE laminates—was told flat out by
suppliers that fluorocarbon-free impregnation was impossible. But it pushed suppliers
for months anyway until it got an alternative developed, allowing Klattermusen to
make, it says, the first-ever, fluorocarbonfree jacket. Unfortunately, its hard shell
Noatun jacket, which uses a “green”
membrane and finish that it calls Cutan, is
very expensive, retailing for EUR 530 (translating at a late December rate to about $765).
But founder, president and chief designer
Peter Askulv said it’s only a first step. “We
live in this world,” Askulv said. “We have to
protect it. For the outdoor trade to spread
“
case, consumer surveys are consistently
pointing out that while consumers do want
to buy products that are environmentally
friendly, the average consumer is not ready
to pay more for it. The typical American
consumer is so accustomed to getting
quality goods at cheap prices, they want
their cake and to eat it too for sustainable
products as well,” said Kim Coupounas,
co-founder and CEO of GoLite. The
company has gone full-force into creating
sustainable products with 100-percent
recycled polyester proprietary DriMove
base layers, a wind shell built with 100percent recycled poly on tap for 2008, and
a plan to establish depots where polyester
can be recycled across the globe.
“It’s got to be affordable for the masses,”
said David Matz, president of the
Grassroots Outdoor Alliance, which represents the interests of a consortium of 34
specialty retailers. Yet, he added that he
believes that pricier green products will
sell with core consumers—if they can
outperform synthetics. “There is a group
that is interested in performance and they
are willing to pay a premium. Look at the
THE TYPICAL AMERICAN CONSUMER IS SO ACCUSTOMED TO
GETTING QUALITY GOODS AT CHEAP PRICES, THEY WANT THEIR CAKE
AND TO EAT IT TOO FOR SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTS AS WELL.
”
—Kim Coupounas, CEO of GoLite
poisons like this is just not acceptable.”
Still, the fact remains that far fewer U.S.
brands—beyond those with core sustainability messages like Patagonia and Nau—
have become early adopters of green
waterproof/breathable technology.
THE PRICE MUST BE RIGHT
You just won’t find many consumers willing
to pay that much for an environmentally
friendly jacket without a track record of
performance. There is a big assumption
that just because green is the right thing,
consumers will buy it. That lofty thought
flies in the face of Retailing 101. Being
green is nice, but the reality is it usually
falls to third place on the checklist of the
standard consumer shopping for a jacket
for skiing, snowboarding, mountaineering,
ice climbing or other rugged outdoor adventures. Unless the performance and, to a
slightly lesser extent, price of sustainable
apparel can compete with standbys,
fighting global climate change likely won’t
factor into the typical buying decision.
“Much as we all wish this were not the
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success of Icebreaker, Ibex and SmartWool
when it comes to base layers.”
That idea of performance first is a lesson
that Patagonia has taken to heart and integrated into its sustainability strategy. Despite
all the eco-hoopla around Patagonia, the
brand has remained acutely aware of the
fact that customers buy the company’s base
layers because they keep them warm, breathe
and wick sweat, not because they are green.
“We try to push the percentage of recycled
content as high as possible, but we’re not
willing to compromise on performance,”
said Jill Dumain, Patagonia’s environmental
analysis director. “That’s a decision we made
a long time ago on organic cotton. The environmental aspect has to be the gravy. To
that end, we take the long run view and wait
until the technology is available to do things
in a sustainable manner that will still maintain our quality level.”
And patience is paying off. Patagonia’s
new Primo Jacket (MSRP $399), a combination of down and shell, is built with a
high percentage of recycled polyester, and
its Rubicon Pants (MSRP $230) are built
with 100-percent recycled polyester with
a DWR finish and 100-percent recycled
polyester insulation. Both pieces are waterproof, breathable, warm and durable.
What’s more, the pants are styled for and
marketed to the twin-tip freeskier, not the
so-called crunchy enviro.
BRING ON THE HARBINGERS
Which brings us back to our anonymous
blogger’s concern that Nau must succeed.
Nau is tapping into a group of people who
are outside the box of the outdoor industry
and are willing to pay more for sustainable performance—a tactic which it
believes will be the tipping point that actually makes a truly sustainable performance company a mainstream norm. Nau
was founded with sustainability written
into its corporate charter. To that end, the
company goes through rigorous hoops to
ensure that its apparel is indeed sustainable, that it sources green fabrics and
membranes, and its supply chain is transparent. But Nau’s hip high-performance
apparel isn’t aimed at the stereotypical
outdoor aficionado. Instead, the Portland,
Ore.-based, manufacturer is targeting
urban cultural creatives, which may be
more important than preaching to the
green faithful of the outdoor arena.
“Our target customer understands sustainability and will buy from a company who
cares about that issue. They also understand
performance. They engage in self-propelled
outdoor activities, but they also want urban
sophistication,” said Mark Galbraith, Nau’s
vice president of product design. “So we
looked to the sweet spot where the two meet
to create a new genre of clothing. This is a
creative class that adopts early trends and
then becomes a harbinger. If you want
sustainability to be viable, you need to speak
to a broader market to make the broadest
change possible.”
These are consumers who explore in the
mountains, but spend most of their time
in the city. They are highly influential on
what the mainstream deems stylish. And
they want the same core outdoor performance features whether they are skinning
up Mount Hood or sipping pinot noir in a
cafe in Portland’s trendy downtown district.
Galbraith said he believes that Nau’s target
urban customers will be judging apparel like
all other outdoor consumers—according to
performance—and its soft shells with recycled polyester and green membranes can
perform alongside traditional hard shells.
And, he stressed, companies that have been
stringent in their sustainability supply chain
and crafted product that outperforms
synthetics will succeed.
“Savvy consumers will ask, ‘How do they
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compare? Are they the same as Gore XCR,
or am I going to sacrifice performance?’” he
said. “But all of these sustainable technologies are going to be in the upper echelon.
They will perform. It’s not like 25 years ago
when Gore was the only thing.”
Which ends up putting the onus of
sustainable performance apparel success
on the retailer. If performance-first
consumers can be sold on the functional
qualities of sustainable apparel, recycled
polyester and fluorocarbon-free laminates,
things will snowball—manufacturers will
demand more green technologies from
suppliers, suppliers will develop better
fabrics, prices will go down, more manufacturers will jump on the bandwagon, etc.
“Looking at other markets for green
products, you can see it is still mostly driven
by what customers are willing to pay for,”
said Gotcher. “A lot of green technologies
exist already, but many of them are just too
expensive (hydrogen cars, for example).
Manufacturers are more than ready to
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compete for these green bucks. But
demand will drive supply for the time being
and it takes time for initial development
costs to be balanced with what the market
is willing to pay for.”
Which puts even more pressure on the
person on the sales floor drinking the
pricey green performance Kool-Aid and
passing it on.
“Any new technology is prone to waitand-see. This stuff won’t sell at the big
boxes. It takes salesmanship. It will be the
specialty retailer who sells it,” said Matz
of the Grassroots Outdoor Alliance. “In the
end, the consumer has to trust the retailer.”
But the true big question to chew on
is that even if consumers want to buy
difficult-to-find-and-manufacture green
performance outerwear, how much do
green details really matter? Recycled and
PFOA-free products are just that—nice recycled stuff. Sustainability, on the companywide level practiced by Nau or Patagonia,
encompasses a much larger picture, and
WEB EXTRA! To read a sidebar on manufacturers that share their sustainability practices
with the public, as well as an update on Swedish manufacturer Klattermusen’s eco efforts,
an added benefit only for SNEWS® subscribers, go to www.geartrends.com/extras.
»OUTDOOR »WINTER 2008
even companies that don’t use 100-percent
green products can create a culture of
sustainability. So do you really have to feel
guilty wearing that Pro Shell jacket if it’s
the best-performing piece on the market?
When does an overly myopic view of what
is green lose the global focus on creating a
more sustainable, profitable economy?
“Toray has already made a lot of steps to
reduce energy use and waste, but these are
not ‘products’ that can be marketed,” said
Gotcher. “The thing we would like to show
people is that it is not just about recycled
nylon, or PFOA-free DWRs. As a company,
we are making important decisions in regards
to environmental issues that affect all of our
products, even those that are not specifically
green. Almost everyone is implementing
initiatives to strengthen their green story.
But there are still many questions that people
are not asking. Are certain products really
effective for environmental causes, or is it
just taking advantage of a market that is very
sensitive to environmental issues?”
» To stay in tune with the latest in sustainability and green news and trends, check
out the Green Scene column in SNEWS® at
www.snewsnet.com/greenscene.
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