Montane will become A the first brand that is using Responsible Down Standard certified down in all down garments across its entire clothing line for Fall 2015, according to Allied Feather & Down, which has spearheaded development of the standard with The North Face.
Montane will use Allieds unique Track My Down service and Allieds informational hang tags.
Allied said Montane’s use of RDS certified down across their entire clothing line represented a major step for the standard, which it began working on years ago after animal welfare activists in Europe questioned whether down from live-plucked, force-fed and otherwise mistreated geese had made its way into outdoor apparel made by Patagonia, The North Face and other prominent brands. The controversy prompted Patagonia to develop its own supply chain for 100 percent traceable down. Patagonia became the first outdoor apparel brand to convert its entire product line to 100 percent traceable down this fall.
The RDS was developed in partnership with Control Union Certifications, an accredited third-party certification body, and the Textile Exchange, a global nonprofit dedicated to sustainability in the textile industry. Allied has supported their efforts by showing the Control Union through their supply chain, evaluating conditions and identifying where auditing should take place as a way to certify that there is no live-plucking, force-feeding or any other mistreatment of animals, from gosling to finished product. It was always the goal of the RDS to have brands use certified down in all their products.
Montane will also be taking the level of transparency one step further, educating end consumers using Allieds Track My Down service and informational hangtags on their clothing line. Each hangtag will not only explain what type of down technology is in the product, but it will have a unique sourceTrack lot number on it. Customers will be able to use the sourceTrack number to find out where the down used in their jacket came from on Allieds Track My Down website. This combination of RDS certified down, Track My Down and Allied hangtags will make Montanes fall 2015 clothing line the most informative and transparent line of down clothing to date.
We are excited that Montane is using RDS down in all of their down apparel. They are the first brand to reach this milestone, said Daniel Uretsky, President of Allied Feather & Down. We have put extensive resources into our tracking and transparency initiatives. We are proud to see brands such as Montane catching on to the importance of not only using Allied RDS down, but also offering consumers tools so that they can be well informed about the product they are purchasing. Hopefully Montane is the first of many brands to fully integrate Allieds RDS down into their lines.
Down is a critical component of mountain clothing and ensuring that it is competently and respectfully sourced is a responsibility any brand in the outdoor industry must ensure, said Paul Cosgrove, Brand Director of Montane. RDS down from Allied can professionally provide a high specialism and quality that few can achieve. Its for this reason we will use RDS down from Allied Feather & Down.
