Thermore

The Green Scene

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ATLANTA- The upcoming Outdoor Retailer Show will spotlight plenty of technical synthetic fabricsand wool, but what's really hot this season is eco-friendly fabrics with technical features. Held at Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City, Jan 23 to 26, PR will showcase an array of recycled fibers, including polyester made from plastic bottles, as well as polyester mixed with cotton, bamboo and soy.

Even the new common lounge area at the show has an eco-friendly feel. Called Back Country Village, it’s sponsored by 1 Percent for the Planet, Winter Wildlands Alliance and Avalanche festival. Other new features OR has added to the winter market include the Organic Café with organic and raw foods; a retailer lounge; a featuring a boulder for climbers; and the Green Box area, which features especially “green” companies, including JungMaven, Econscious and Peace Frogs. Keeping up the eco-friendly theme, FabricLink will host seminar on an, 24, dubbed “Ecothink! What it means to be green for consumers today.” Karen Deniz, managing director of marketing, Optimer Performance Fibers, sees dollar signs with wool and “green: fabrics. “We seem to constantly be picking up new business with these two,” she said.

Others flocking to the theme include Thermore with its Rinnova high-performance, thermal insulation. It is made for a blend of 50 percent standard polyester, Optimer Performance Fibers is introducing its Dri-release E.C.O. collections, which is recycled polyester mixed with organic fibers like cotton, bamboo and soy. Keen Footwear is launching a sock at OR called Off Road Mt Airy that uses Dri-release E.C.O. Toray has a new polyurethane coating that is plane-derived, helping to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions. It will also have its recycled nylon, Recyclon, which will have anew moniker by the time OR starts.

Polartec is committed to making eco-friendly fabrics part of its brand mantra. Spokesman Nate Simmons said recycled content will represent more than 20 percent of Polartec’s production in 2008, up from 1 or 2 percent. They are showing a new wool/polyester base layer with Cocona at OR that Marmot is currently using. 3M’s Thinsulate, celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, is focusing on recycled-content products. Thinsulate reintroduced recycled fibers from plastic bottles last summer, some 10 years after and initial introduction. Paul Amos, global consumer segment marketing manager, said consumers mow are much more receptive to this recycled product.

What may seem like eco-friendly mania on the part of companies is more of a long-term commitment to Rodger Berrier, executive vice-president of Unifi. “The green trend continues but we’re really not referring to it as a trend. This is here to stay,” he said. He touts the fact that Unifi is putting more resources behind its Repreve product, which is a 100 percent recycled materials. Repreve combines several performance features, including moisture management and stretch. The attendees that flock to OR want extreme solutions, said Kenji Haroutinian, shoe director of OR. “It attracts people who want high-tech fabrics that can be used in extreme conditions around the planet.” Dow will introduce its Aryx family of fabrics that includes 100 percent olefin-based stretch and other finer blends. The company is showing it through private meetings by invitation. The fabrics, which are lightweight and dry twice as fast as polyester, will probably make it to U.S. retail floors as sports apparel by fall 2009 or spring 2010, said Cathy Knowles, textile innovation manager, Dow Fiber Solutions, Dow Chemical Co. Concept III will show several new products by Kingwhale including a bison suede laminate (simulated polyester with the look and finish of bison) bonded to fleece. Other new products include a very lightweight soft shell, new micro-fleece looks, fine-gauge knits with a silky feel but with wicking and anti-microbial properties for base layer apparel, and merino wool fleeces to be worn as a mid layer. Dow’s Knowles said people want "something different" from cotton, polyester and nylon,” adding that companies want improved performance from fabrics, and being lightweight is a consistent requirement.

Tome Mendl, marketing director, PrimaLoft, said,” The market is always demanding something new and different and upgrade-something more interesting that helps differentiate a company from the competition.” PrimaLoft has reformulated its premier insulations, PrimaLoft One and PrimaLoft Sport, with its new Convexion Technology, providing increased loft and warmth, as well as enhanced performance.

Thermore is also catering to the cold-weather crew. Its new T98 Insulation adjusts thermal efficiently according to changing weather conditions. The “smart” garment has thermal gates that open and close with temperature change. It seems that global climate variation has nothing on the innovation at OR.