Final Major Project Proposal: Using Gabardine in a Contemporary

Final Major Project Proposal:
Using Gabardine in a Contemporary
Performance Jacket
As a Conclusion of my Exploration Project, I feel
I have gathered enough knowledge of traditional
design and materials of early 20th century outdoor
performance clothing, as well as knowledge of
modern technical possibilities and todays market
area within outdoor clothing, as to apply it all in to
making a performance jacket that focuses on style
and function, within a fashion conscious yet practical
market.
Product
User/Market
Through collaborating with MHT, we have discussed that the
ideal outcome for both of us, would be to design a jacket that
would fulfil the needs of a contemporary outdoor performance
jacket, but would still express through design a celebration of
the Heritage of Mountain sports.
The USP of this product will be that it fulfils the demands
of both the fashion and performance market.
Ideally the jacket would encompass the name ‘Everywhere
Jacket’, which was the name of Mallory’s jacket for his 1924
Everest expedition. It will hopefully be a product that could be
used ‘everywhere’; it will perform well on the mountain, but also
look smart enough to wear to work or to the local bar.
Fashion-wise, the cotton based fabric will be attractive
to touch and to look at, and will provide no plasticy
rustle that many synthetic based jackets do. It will also
take some traditional design influences (like the collar
flap used on Mallory’s jacket) to give it the heritage but
smart look that is so successful in the outdoors fashion
market today.
As advised I focused most of my material research on what would
provide me with 2 properties: Breathability and Weatherproofing.
Gabardine has natural weather resistant qualities, and being
woven fabric has good breathable qualities. To perform at a
level that satisfies performance clothing today however, it will
definitely need reinforcement in the form of:- Either outer coating, or nano-tech fabric treatment
- If outer coating is used then backed up with a membrane
- Whether a loose layering system, or bonded to the membrane,
a lining for extra insulation may be needed
Performance-wise, I hope to also reach out to the high
quality outdoor performance user. With the use of
reinforcements and gabardines natural qualities, I think it
is definitely achievable to design a jacket that will perform
against extreme elements.
On the other hand, market research has told me the
biggest market for outdoor performance shops are the
‘Arm Chair Mountaineerer’. I think this product will
play in to that users hand, as it will have the promise of
performance, but look good around town too.
Mallory Replica Gabardine Jacket
©Mallory Replica Clothing Project, Mountain Heritage Trust
Cost/Manufacture/Sustainability
Sustainability:
Costs & Manufacture:
Gabardine, being 100% cotton, and being of natural produce it can be produced with far more sustainability
compared to made-made and synthetic fabrics. Here’s some information as supplied by Cotton Inc.
To make high enough quality gabardine means there will be not much room for compromise on cost. It has to
have the best quality of long staple cotton, and also a very high amount of picks and ends per cm making it a
very tight weave and a longer process.
However with the quality illustrated by the look and feel of the fabric, the heritage the fabric symbolises, the
smart and stylish properties of both fabric and design aspects, not to mention the promise of high functional
performance, the product will definitely earn it’s price tag.
Look and Feel: Soft to the touch, warm on the eyes, and less
plasticy rustle.
Style: Authenticity, heritage and tradition will feature heavily in
the design, a successful recipe in todays market. It will also make
the jacket smarter looking than most performance jackets.
Heritage: Materials and designs used in ground breaking mountain
and arctic expeditions
Functionality: Gabardine’s own great performance against the
elements, paired with the best of modern clothing technology
Double Duty: Can be used on and off the mountain
Cotton vs. Other Fibres.
Cotton, of course, is not the only textile fibre
available, but it has significant environmental and
performance advantages over other fibres. A few
examples:
- Cotton uses sunlight and converts it directly to a
fibre without intermediate processing steps. That’s
increasingly important, since processing other
fibres, even those from biological sources, require
a large amount of energy to produce fibre.
- Wool requires four times more land than does
cotton to produce fibre. Silk requires 20 times the
land to produce the equivalent amount of silk fibre.
- Fibres that are based on corn and bamboo also
require intermediate processing and additional
chemicals to create a rayon-type fibre, which is
still not a direct plant-based production of fibre.
- As a natural, renewable fibre, cotton has obvious
environmental and sustainability advantages
over petroleum-based synthetic fibres. Unlike
petroleum-based fibres, cotton is energy selfsustaining, and does not contribute to net green
house gas emissions.
Marketing
The marketing will focus on 2 things, the inspiration of tradition
and heritage, and the promise of performance.
Like Nigel Cabourn’s Authentic collection, it will illustrate direct
influence from original mountaineering gear from past ground
breaking achievements For me I will play on not only the history behind gabardine and
mountaineering, but also how recently testing has proven how
well it performed against a lot of peoples passive dismissals of
such old garments.
Especially if I am able to secure a second collaborator in the
name of a successful outdoor performance company, I will have
to still emphasise the performance of the product in different
conditions...After all there are two initial indicators for customers
when buying performance products; the comfort and fit when
trying it on in store, and its promise to perform even beyond
the conditions that consumer may be interested in using it I will demonstrate this by taking the jacket to the Scottish
mountains and take some beautiful shots of the jacket in use
while in tough conditions. I can then use these pictures as part
of my marketing campaign.
Presentation
Final Major Presentation, The Vision:
Mallory Jacket, curtesy of MHT and
Burberry, Inspiration for the new
‘Everywhere Jacket’