Like the story BOSS reported last week regarding the footwear market, apparel companies are striving to move in a new direction that will separate them from the competition that is increasingly dependent on the same story of Gore-Tex XCR, Malden Polartec, and other ubiquitous technology stories. BOSS detected a bit of a shift in the brands that received attention for innovation at the most recent Outdoor Retailer Winter Market, away from a few of the bigger brand names that are (not surprisingly) now part of larger corporate entities and to some newer brands that are seen as more entrepreneurial and less averse to risk in product design and technology stories.
The move to wool may just be one of those stories that has real legs for the market as the number of companies increase and bring more focus on the natural fiber story. It was obvious that vendors had no intention of pulling the wool over the customers eyes, but that was about the only part of the users body that doesnt have a new product designed for it from a number of vendors and manufacturers. The trend has even moved into footwear with the new collaboration between Timberland and Smartwool (see BOSS_0507).
Despite the proliferation of vendors in the wool market Smartwool is still king, expanding beyond its outdoor and ski sock beginning and into the apparel market and dress socks. Jim Markley, VP of sales for Smartwool, told BOSS that the brand has been able to stay above the fray of others entering the wool sock business by exclusively focusing on wool and nothing but wool. “The key thing for Smartwool is that were telling one story,” said Markley. He did say that the apparel category has had “mild” success, but he sees it gaining real momentum in 2005 as retailers “get the wool story.” He said that Smartwool booked more in December than in the whole 2004 season.What may be helping expand the story is the move to three weights in the NTS line, with a new Microweight baselayer joining the Lightweight and Midweight product.
The sock category still holds a lot of opportunity as well, according to Markley. The Running sock product with its cushioning story that was first shown at Summer Market is expanding into new colors for this year and the Adrenaline product is expected to see more opportunity in the Outdoor Specialty market.
But the biggest growth area for Smartwool is expected to be the expanded Lifestyle category which will be sold at retail from Independent Footwear accounts to the core Outdoor Specialty and Ski Specialty accounts. “This is our coming out party,” said Markley, referring to the expansion of product styles in the category. The company has doubled its style count in both mens and womens.
While Smartwool is clearly the leader in the category from a mindshare standpoint, BOSS was particularly taken by the work being done at Icebreaker USA. In New Zealand, the company offers a full line of baselayer, mid-layer, and outerwear product — all made from Merino wool. Jeremy Moon, CEO and founder, launched the line in the U.S. with a simple offering of base-layers. Last year he introduced a few insulation pieces, and this year he brought over the full line of mid-layer. The company also introduced a few pieces of life-style oriented outerwear, and if Icebreaker follows the same pattern, we can expect to see the full line sometime next year.
What was most intriguing here was the story Moon is telling about real sustainable resources and the incredible work they are doing with the Merino wool story. The company has full vertical control of its wool resource and is able to breed particular rams and ewes based on the type of wool needed for a particular garment. Mr. Moon told BOSS that the sheep live and flourish in a natural environment, but they are able to control breeding to produce different types of wool. Much of this is based on the engineering of a garment that may need longer, thinner strands of wool, versus a shorter, stockier strand.
IBEX is also telling its Merino wool story, albeit one that co-founder John Fernsell started in an area that couldnt be farther from New Zealand. The company, founded and flourishing in Vermont, continues to expand on the technical uses of wool, this year introducing Climawool Polar, its warmest wool softshell fabric for the coldest conditions, as well as a new big-mountain hooded jacket in the original Climawool fabric. Ibex is also introducing a new backcountry touring pant in Climawool Cirrus, a lightweight, extremely durable softshell fabric.
For Fall 05, Ibex will offer several new hat styles made from Merino wool as well as a new Backcountry Glove, which has been updated with the addition of Primaloft on the back of hand, wool fleece to warm palms, and an extended gauntlet for deep snow protection. Ibexs lifestyle offering has been enhanced with new Loden wool outerwear jackets using 17-Micron Merino wool in a group of mens and womens long-sleeved shirts.
Mountain Khakis introduced a simple concept to OR Winter Market attendees-pants. Mountain Khakis intends to remain a “hips down” company and has initially introduced only two models, the Alpine Utility Pant and the Original Mountain pant. Currently, product is only in three “seed stores.”
Teko, a relatively new sock company that launched at the last OR Summer Market, has been busy making sure it truly has the most environmentally sustainable company on the show floor. In its product line, Teko uses only recycled polyester or organic natural materials, such as organic cotton and Tasmanian Merino wool. All materials used in packaging, catalogs, and even press kits and business cards are made of recycled paper. The company is not only choosing eco-friendly materials for production, but also 100% of the electricity used in operations and manufacturing is offset by the purchase of “clean sustainable” American wind power.
