Chris Harges began his outdoor industry career at Eastern Mountain Sports in the 1990s and later held key roles at both The North Face and Mountain Hardwear before an intriguing job opening caught his eye in late 2018.

Marmot, the heritage outdoor apparel and gear maker, was searching for a director of brand. Based on his industry experience working for and with retailers and vendors, Harges knew the decades-old legacy brand well—and he knew the career move was too good to pass up.

“For years, I had been watching Marmot from the outside,” he told șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Business Journal. “Back in the day, when I was at EMS, if you wanted a good Gore-Tex shell, there were only two places to go—The North Face or Marmot. And Marmot was cooler because it was more niche. But over the years, the brand drifted a little. At some point, it took its foot off the innovation pedal. It wasn’t cranking out new shells, insulation, tents, and sleeping bags with the same level of interest that it had previously. When I had an opportunity to come here and help turn it around, I thought, ‘This is an icon, and I want to be part of reengineering it.’”

Harges joined Marmot when it was under relatively new ownership and still trying to find its footing. The Rohnert Park, California-based brand, founded in the early 1970s and officially launched in 1974, had become part of Newell Brands Inc. in 2016 when Newell Rubbermaid acquired Marmot’s then-parent company, Jarden Corp., for $16 billion. But the new owner appeared to be mishandling what should’ve been a gem in its outdoor portfolio. As Harges saw it, Marmot had lost its way.

“I came here under the shadow of that acquisition,” he said. “It was your classic situation in which indications were made to Wall Street that there were going to be wonderful synergies, but they didn’t necessarily manifest immediately, and the business’s focus was very much on top-line revenue. For a brand like Marmot, which exists because of specialty dealers, being forced by the vagaries of your parent company’s financial situation to dip your toe into channels that aren’t brand accretive and are offensive to your specialty base, that wasn’t a good moment for the brand.”

Joy Over Suffering

Harges believed that with the right guidance and some strategic changes, Marmot could return to its glory days. Sure enough, soon after he joined the company, Newell named Ravi Saligram CEO of the parent company, someone Harges called a “consumer- and brand-focused” executive.

And Newell appointed Jim Pisani—who had recently served as global brand president for VF Corporation-owned Timberland—as president of the company’s outdoor and recreation division, which includes Marmot, Coleman, Ex-Officio, and several others.

The company brought in more fresh leadership, including new directors of operations, merchandising, and creative. They were soon joined by a new vice president and general manager Marty Roos, giving Marmot the team it needed to get back on track. These C-suite additions also signaled a new relationship between the asset and its parent company.

“That change at the top allowed us to see our way forward and know that Newell was behind us, not just with financial shared services but with a team of really smart folks who get the industry in a way that just wasn’t there two years ago,” Harges said. “By the time Marty got here, we had a turnaround strategy in place. We knew where we wanted to go in terms of brand positioning, and we knew where we wanted to go in terms of our product proposition.”

Marmot cleaned up distribution and shifted 100 percent of its focus to specialty retail, Harges said, which will remain a priority for the brand moving forward. But there was also a deeper philosophical change brewing.Ìę

The team wanted to stop selling the idea that outdoor endeavors must include “suffering.” Gone were the days of the brand’s insistence that owning a Marmot jacket, tent, or bag meant the user had to punish his or her body on some gnarly ascent. Instead, they thought, it was “time to reach new consumers and celebrate the real reason we all go outdoors: fun and friends.”

“If you think about the early days of The North Face or Mountain Hardwear or even what Arc’teryx does today, it’s about a white man on a white mountain conquering summits, often with frost in his eyebrows,” Harges said. “It made sense 20, 30 years ago when you had a consumer who might ask, ‘Why would I want to pay $400 for a raincoat?’ You needed to prove, as a brand, that you weren’t fooling around, that your product saves lives and enables people to do amazing things. But the industry never moved away from that.”

Harges clarified that statement by pointing out that the industry’s technical brands never moved away from the top-of-the-mountain adventure ideal. But Marmot knew it could innovate technically—create bomber apparel and gear with best-in-class materials and designs—while also appealing to the casual outdoor fan who wasn’t interested in suffering through extreme conditions and bagging faraway peaks.

“We think the opportunity here is a mash-up of performance and play,” Harges said. “We’ve got that legacy, we’ve got relationships with Gore, Polartec, 3M, and others. We can make stuff that will get you up Everest, but we can also make stuff that’s going to get an intermediate outdoors person a much better experience outdoors. We decided that’s where we want to focus our design and our messaging.”

A New Product-Centric Focus at Marmot

Marmot’s repositioning is about its new people and its newly improved partnership with Newell, but it’s mostly about the new product lines the brand will debut at retail next spring.

“The New Outdoors,” as Marmot calls its Spring 2022 collection of apparel and equipment, shows where the brand has focused its efforts over the last year. For example, Marmot said it has “a new approach to function and aesthetic aimed directly at the emerging outdoor consumer. Designs are versatile and cross-functional to appeal to today’s multi-sport athlete.”

Other highlights include a “completely redesigned down bag series with a host of innovative temperature-regulation and comfort features, new tent designs with added usability elements, and an aesthetic approach to equipment that moves far beyond the staid royal blues and forest greens of traditional tents and bags.” Colorful stripes, for example, play a big role in the new designs.

Overseeing the new line is Ruth Beatty, who joined Marmot as creative director in the spring of 2020, just as COVID was hitting. The native of Northern Ireland had previously worked at The North Face, and she was eager to put her stamp on a brand that was looking to honor its past yet lead consumers into the future.

“For me as a creative, coming into a new company that’s looking to tap into its heritage and bring that to life in a new and innovative way has been exciting,” she told OBJ. “The eagerness and the passion and complete lack of resistance for newness and change have been refreshing.”

She knew the story of Marmot’s founding, how the brand’s creators wanted to make a community that was open to everybody, so she devised a way to bring that ethos into this next chapter.

“That kind of inclusivity spoke to my soul,” Beatty said. “I’m someone who’s into outdoor sports, but for the joy and the fun of it, not necessarily summiting Everest. It captured why people I know go outside, why I go outside. It makes you smile, and it makes you feel good. My starting point was, ‘How do we bring that to life into the product?’”

Beatty looked to Marmot’s archives and has retooled much of the brand’s older look, working to infuse a “lightheartedness into the product.” While the brand positioning won’t be fully unveiled until later this year with the Spring 2022 collection, Beatty teased some of the changes coming to Marmot’s line of apparel and gear.

“We are aiming for versatility within pieces so that they transition and they adapt into how people are living their lives,” Beatty said. “For us, especially on the equipment side, it was all about taking the Marmot spirit and combining it with today’s technology to bring something new. We want to make people smile with our most technical products. Backpacking doesn’t have to be serious all the time. It can be fun and joyful.”

A New Outlook for the Brand

“Fun and joyful” is indeed how Marmot’s team is viewing this pivot. Even before announcing the repositioning, the brand had enjoyed some much-needed bounce in its top and bottom lines.

On its most recent earnings call, for example, Newell said its Outdoor & Recreation division saw sales improve 7 percent to $336 million and posted a profit of $15 million, up from a loss of $474 million in Q1 2020 (Newell doesn’t break out sales among its outdoor assets).Ìę

During the earnings call with analysts, Saligram said that while that Marmot has “struggled” in the past, the brand’s website had a “terrific [first] quarter” and that the parent company is “seeing a minor uptick on consumption” for the Marmot brand, an improvement that should become more apparent later this year.

Another driver of change leading to optimism among brand leaders is how the pandemic has altered outdoor participation. As interest in outdoor activities continues to surge, Marmot believes it has found untapped potential with more casual consumers who still want to buy gear from a technical brand with a rock-solid industry reputation.

“There are all these new consumers coming to the outdoors and finding the benefits,” Beatty said. “It’s good for the body. It’s good for the soul. We wanted to make everyone feel welcome in the outdoors, to shift away from the ‘you need to be an expert, you need to be a badass’ mentality and instead say, ‘Come join us, let’s go hike.’ We wanted to make gear feel more welcoming and less intimidating for people because I think the outdoor industry has been like that in the past.”

The brand is approaching its 50th anniversary in 2024, and it’s doing so with that new, more welcoming attitude, one that Harges believes is a return to Marmot’s roots.

“It’s just kind of a happy accident that we see the world changing and want to pivot the brand right around the time we’re about to turn 50,” he said. “We very much see it as a ramp. We believe this line that comes out in Spring ’22 will turn heads and serve as a keystone moment for us.”

And as Pisani told OBJ, the brand is fully committed to targeting all outdoor consumers—no matter where their ambitions lie—while honoring the spirit of innovation that launched Marmot those many decades ago.

“Marmot is uniquely positioned to delight these consumers by bringing our purpose to life, which is to make people healthy through the joy of outdoor sports,” he said. “We have spent the past 12 months building a talented, passionate, and experienced leadership team that is focused on our consumer and delivering sustainable, positive results. From the very beginning, we went outside because it’s the best playground we can imagine. We will work hard to ensure everyone can enjoy this outside playground through better apparel and equipment solutions.”

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The past 14 months have been a dark season of disconnect for many in the business of outdoor. As much as anything else, we’re all likely to remember 2020 as the Year Without Trade Shows—the year we couldn’t hug, shake hands, or do business the way many of us prefer: in person. For an industry that prides itself on connection and compassion, the sting has been vivid.

The good news is, it’s almost over. The Outdoor Retailer (OR) Summer Market is coming back to Denver, Colorado, on August 10-12, and registration is currently open. The Big Gear Show (BGS), which delayed its inaugural event last year, is set to stage just a week earlier, August 3-5, in Park City, Utah. After a year of red Xs on the calendar—cancelled events, dashed plans—folks are once again buying plane tickets and dusting off booth hardware, getting ready to see each other. There’s more than a modest buzz of anticipation in the air.

The time away has changed things, however. We’re not fully out of the pandemic yet, and in the months we’ve spent apart, most of us have adapted to new ways of doing business. Budgets have already been set for the year. Some people are eager to meet face-to-face as soon as possible, while others are still wary of crowds, or restricted by company travel bans. This year, a big question on everyone’s mind is who, exactly, will be at the trade shows?

In a typical year, almost no one would question whether the big industry players like Patagonia, The North Face, or Black Diamond would show up to our national shows. Those booths have been the anchors of such events for decades.Ìę

We’re living through the shoulder season of the most disruptive global crisis in a century, though, and the August shows are by no means a return to “normal,” as we hoped for so long they might be. At this point, it seems the only way to get a sense of who’s going—and who’s not—is to pick up the phone and start calling brand leaders, asking directly whether they plan to attend, yes or no.

Which is exactly what we did.

A Quick Disclaimer

First things first: ten weeks is a long time. Trying to pin down a comprehensive, definitive list of who’s attending the shows, nearly three months before they stage, is impossible. Over the course of the summer, as the situation develops, brands can and will change their minds about attending or skipping one show or the other. It’s just too soon to tell.

But we have to start somewhere. To begin piecing together a picture of the attendee lists, we reached out to dozens of key industry players to ask about their plans. Some dodged our calls and emails (no hard feelings). Others outlined their thoughts in lengthy manifestos. Some wanted to talk, but felt they couldn’t, as in the case of a notable hardgoods brand that refused to go on the record for fear of upsetting its specialty retailers. Response, in other words. was all over the place.

As of today, our list of exhibitors attending or skipping the shows—subject to change at any moment—is more comprehensive than what OR and BGS directors have published, but it’s still miles from complete. Everything we know so far is outlined below.

Which Brands Are Exhibiting at the Shows?

Outdoor Retailer’s latest exhibitor list, released today, includes about 150 brands, though show director Marisa Nicholson told us previously that more than 300 brands are registered with “more contracts coming in daily.”

Brands exhibiting at Outdoor Retailer (confirmed by OR leadership): 4ocean, șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Medical Kits, Aetrex, Airhead Sports Group, Aloe Up Suncare, American, Alpine Club, American Backcountry, Amundsen, Avalanche, Backpacker’s Pantry, Bertucci Watch, Big City Mountaineers, Bison Designs, Body Glide, Bridgford Foods Corporation, Brightz Ltd., Brookwood Companies Inc., brrr, Buck Knives, Inc., Bula, Camp Chef, Carson Optical, Centric Software, Chaos / CTR, Chums, Coala, Cougar Shoes, CRKT, CWR Wholesale Distribution, Dakine Equipment, Dakota Grizzly, Dansko, Disc-O-Bed Retail, Inc., Dometic, Downlite, Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps, drirelease, Duraflex, Earth Shoes, Ecovessel, U-Konserve, Equip, Everest Textile Co., Falcon Guides, Farm to Feet, Flexfit, Flylow Gear, Fox 40 USA, Frost River, GCI Outdoor, Geckobrands, Glacier Glove, Goal Zero, Gore-Tex, Grabber Inc. / Heatmax, Groove Life, G-Shock, GSI Outdoors, Hans Global / Pacific Fly, Hurley, Igloo, Ignik, UCO, Morakniv, Esbit, Pedco, ITW Nexus, Jambu & Co., Jetty, JTreeLife, Kavu, Inc., Kijaro, Killtec NA, Klean Kanteen, Klymit, Kokatat, Kokopelli, Komperdell Sportartikel GmbH, Korea Outdoor & Sports Industry Association, Labtex Co., Lamo Footwear, Ledlenser, Liberty Mountain, Lifeline First Aid & Fifty Fifty Bottles, Lorpen North America, Lowa Boots, Masterfit Enterprises Inc., Milliken & Company, Minus33 Merino Wool Clothing, Mountain and Isles, Mountaineers Books, Xtratuf, Mustang Survival, Nanga / Tomoyuki Yokota, Natural Tribute, Nomadix SPC, Ocun NA, Optic Nerve Eyewear, Osprey Packs, Otis Eyewear, Otte Gear, Outdoor Products, Outdoor Sports Insurance, Outerknown, Peak Refuel, Pendleton, Poler, Princeton Tec, Propet USA, Purnell, Qalo, QuietKat, Rab, Reusch USA/TruSox, Rome Industries, Salty Crew, Santero, Sawyer Products, Scully, Shwood Eyewear, Skratch Labs, SMC PMI, Solstice Watersports, Sperry, Sport Hansa, Spyderco, Stansport, Sterling Rope Co., Storm Care Solutions Ltd., Storm Creek, Sun Company, SureFire, Sustainable Down Source, tasc Performance, The Landmark Project, The NPD Group, Thermore, Tilley Endurables, Tincup Mountain Whisky, Trango / eGrips, Turbo Tent., Tweave, ust gear, Vandoit, Wallaroo Hat Company, Water Sports, Watershed, Western Mountaineering. Westfield Outdoors, Wild Tribute. Wolverine Footwear and Apparel, wow watersports / Big Mouth, Zippo Manufacturing.

The Big Gear Show confirmed that more than 100 brands have registered out of a possible 250 on the show’s invite-only list. We were able to get our hands on an abbreviated roster, which event co-founder Sutton Bacon said is merely a snapshot of the show’s full makeup.

Brands exhibiting at The Big Gear Show (confirmed by BGS leadership): Aire, Aqua-Bound, AquaGlide, Astral, Barebones Living, Bending Branches, Bike Exchange, Black Diamond, CamelBak, Camp Chef, Diamondback, Eddyline Kayaks, Eldorado Walls, Esquif Canoe, Eureka, Fat Chance Bicycles, Five Ten, Giro, Goal Zero, Grand Trunk, Hydrapak, Jack Wolfskin, Jetboil, Kleen Kanteen, Klymit, La Sportiva, Liberty Mountain, Malone Auto Racks, Miir, Ocean Kayak, Old Town Canoe, Osprey, Outdoor Research, Oru Kayak, Petzl, Pinarello, POC Sports, Primus, Princeton Tec, Rumpl, Scarpa, Seattle Sports, SOG Specialty Knives & Tools, Stan’s NoTubes, Sterling Rope, Suspenz, Swarovski Optik, Tahe Outdoors / SIC, Tern Bicycles, Troy Lee Designs, Wahoo Fitness, Wenonah Canoe, Yakima.

Several of the industry’s largest brands have confirmed they’re skipping both shows, including Big Agnes, Marmot, Merrell, Mystery Ranch, Nemo, Outdoor Research, and Patagonia. And two companies we spoke with—FjĂ€llrĂ€ven and Lifestraw—are still undecided, though Lifestraw says it would likely attend only one.

Several brands did not respond to repeated requests for comment, including Smartwool, Mountain Hardwear, and Keen, among others.

One major player—The North Face—presented a curious puzzle in our reporting. A company representative last week said that the brand is “not participating in any major trade shows, including the Summer Outdoor Retailer Show, in the near term.” Yet OR’s partial exhibitor list, released today, named the company as one of the confirmed players.

When asked for clarification, Nicholson said, “We’re in ongoing conversations with a lot of brands around creative ways they can participate in the show and what that looks like this year. The North Face is one of those brands, and we’re excited they are going to take advantage of opportunities provided at Outdoor Retailer to support specialty retailers and to engage with the community on important, relevant initiatives that help the industry move forward.”

At press time, multiple executives at The North Face had not responded to repeated requests for clarification.

Directors for both shows have stressed that comprehensive exhibitor information, including show floor plans, will be released soon. The Outdoor Retailer list is coming in mid-June, according to Nicholson, while The Big Gear Show’s list will be published in the next month or so, said Bacon.

Why Some Brands Are Dead-Set on Showing Up

In speaking with more than a dozen of the industry’s largest brands about their reasons for prioritizing the trade shows this year, no explanation came up more frequently than the issue of community support.

“There’s an awful lot of relationship value and passion that can’t necessarily be measured, but that will have long-term benefits,” said Lowa general manager Peter Sachs in reference to Outdoor Retailer, which the footwear brand plans to attend. “From a purely commercial perspective, it’s late in the [buying] cycle. For us, our deadline [for Spring ’22 product] is about a week after the show. But I’m not looking at it from a commercial perspective. It’s not like I’m walking out with purchase orders anyway; I’m walking out with handshakes, pats on the back, that kind of thing. For me, it doesn’t matter if it’s in June or August.”

Sachs estimated that he’s going to “overspend compared to the commercial value of the show,” but reiterated that, for his brand, attending Outdoor Retailer is a calculation that goes beyond dollars and cents.Ìę

“We want to show respect for the dealers who do attend, re-engage relationships with industry partners, get real products in front of buyers and trade press, present the company’s updated branding and marketing, and start to process the emotional parts of resuming our trade show schedule so we can get ready for the January ’22 show,” Sachs said.Ìę

Others like Jeff Polke, co-president of GCI Outdoor, echoed similar sentiments.

“It’s been 22 straight years that we’ve been at Outdoor Retailer,” said Polke. “It’s been such a big part of growing my company that I wouldn’t feel right missing the show.”

He added that, because so many businesses are having problems with their supply chains and budgets, he understood the argument for skipping the trade shows for financial reasons. Still, he said, “it’s a small price if you do it right.”

“Get a smaller booth,” said Polke. “Make it work. Some of these brands need to step it up and show everyone that the trade show industry is still valuable. We can’t forget everything that made the outdoor industry what it is. The shows are part of that. There’s value in face-to-face. We have to go back to who we are as humans, shaking hands and saying thank you for your business.”

Respect for retailers was another topic that came up repeatedly in our conversations with brands. For the better part of a year, after the lockdown period of the early pandemic, specialty retailers across the country kept their doors open to customers, maintaining face-to-face relationships with the industry’s consumer base.

“These retailers have been meeting with consumers out on the front line for a year, while we’ve been hiding behind our Zoom screens,” said Sachs. “We owe it to them.”

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Holly Phillips grew up in Ona, West Virginia, exploring the outdoors on fishing trips with her dad. The two would set out on a Friday evening, camp near a river, and start casting the next morning. Their gear consisted of what they could afford at the local Kmart or Walmart. “I always got cold in cheap sleeping bags. And if it rained, the tent walls would soak through,” says Phillips. As a result, Phillips’s earliest outdoor experiences were a combination of joy, because she was outdoors, and sufferfests, because her gear was so low quality. “But even as I grew older, I didn’t know any better because people like me—low income and outside the normal demographic of backpackers, climbers, or even avid hikers—are left out of the outdoor conversation,” she says.

It wasn’t until she moved to Boulder, Colorado, in 2012 at age 29, that the single mom even heard of Patagonia or Black Diamond. One day, she ventured into one of the town’s premier outdoor stores, Neptune Mountaineering. “When I saw the price tags, I was so bummed,” says Phillips, who was making roughly $16 an hour at the time (which is more than five dollars above the national average minimum wage). “I knew I could never afford that stuff.”

She is not alone. Outdoor Foundation’s 2018 Outdoor Recreation Report shows the high cost of gear is the second most common deterrent for getting outside. (“Too busy” was number one and “Places for outdoor recreation cost too much” is number six.) For years, the outdoor industry has claimed it wants to be more diverse, equitable, and inclusive. If affordability is one of the biggest barriers to inclusion, are we really addressing it?

What Does Affordable Mean?

When Phillips struck out at Neptune, she headed to REI and was overwhelmed by the prices there, too. It’s a common problem says activist Cianna Walker-Flom, who has criticized the outdoor industry for being “intimidating and exclusionary for those who are underrepresented.” She believes a key way to welcome them in is for brands to partner with nonprofit organizations that serve underrepresented populations to offer them upcycled (or new) gear at greatly reduced prices for lending libraries.

The fact is, “affordable” is a relative term. But you could say several brands in the industry are already delivering. In the sleeping bag realm, for instance, Marmot, Kelty, The North Face, and Slumberjack have produced sub-$100 bags for years. But even a $79 bag would be pushing it for a minimum wage earner. [Patricia Cameron reported on this problem in our Winter 2020 issue: “It would take a minimum wage worker two full eight-hour days to afford new hiking shoes from most outdoor brands,” she wrote.] And there remains an undeniable performance gap between a $69 Kelty bag that works as a legitimate (albeit bulky) backcountry option and the $25-dollar Walmart variety that left Phillips cold.

Gear Everyone Can Afford

Brands have very different views on what’s possible when it comes to price versus performance. Durability, for example, is subjective (see p. 48), and Big Agnes founder Bill Gamber acknowledges that even his $200 “entry-level” tent is out of reach for many people like Phillips. But, he says, skimping is risky. “Check the dumpsters in Moab. They’re full of Costco and Walmart tents,” he says. “It’s just not possible to make a $100 tent that will last. At least I haven’t figured out how to do it.”

Kelty has almost cracked that nut—it offers several quality two-person tents that are just north of 100 bucks. Senior vice president and general manager Russ Rowell is content in that middle market and doesn’t intend to chase even lower prices. “Once a brand presents itself downstream, it’s very hard to go upstream,” he says. That creates a hole in the market which is precisely where two companies—Decathlon and Walmart—see opportunity.

In 2017, the 43-year-old French sporting goods giant Decathlon entered the U.S. market. The brand takes pride in providing quality gear at extremely low prices, and its one-year, 352 percent sales growth in the U.S. proves that people are hungry for decent gear at rock bottom prices. Consumers flock to the 47,000-square-foot Bay Area store for daypacks as low as $3.50 (not a typo) and tents that cost just $59. The company’s scale—it has 93,000 employees worldwide—allows it to build gear at prices so low it’s easy to doubt the quality, but review after review, from the likes of șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű, BACKPACKER, and Runner’s World, praise the brand’s performance-to-price ratio.

And hot on Decathlon’s heels is the icon of affordability in the U.S.: Walmart.

Walmart’s Bid for Backpackers

Eoin Comerford, CEO of Moosejaw, which is owned by Walmart, made a splash in 2018 with his efforts to bring premium brands and premium prices to Walmart customers by creating a “premium outdoor store” online. At the time, Comerford believed he was introducing high-end outdoor products to people who’d never been exposed to them. But the project failed after brands including Black Diamond, Deuter USA, Katadyn, Therm-a-Rest, and Leki pulled out, insinuating that by selling on Walmart.com, they’d take the special out of specialty brands.

Comerford learned from the failure. In April, he told The Voice, “We [moved] away from the Premium Outdoor Store because the whole idea of premium versus everyday brands ran counter to our goal of inclusivity.” Instead, he wanted to create an “everyday” brand that would offer “specialty-level performance and quality” to customers of Walmart and fill what he says is a huge gulf between mass market and specialty backpacking gear. “The most likely source of beginner backpackers are car campers who already enjoy life in a tent,” he says. “The most recent KOA North American Camping Report shows car camping is already becoming more diverse. Non-white active camper households increased from 12 percent in 2012 to 31 percent in 2018. Even more encouraging, people of color made up the majority—51 percent—of first-time campers in 2018.”

Comerford believes that price is standing in the way of more people becoming backpackers. So in May, he led the Walmart launch of two “mid-tier” brands that sell through both Walmart and Moosejaw channels and cost the same on each website. Lithic is a backpacking equipment brand that includes tents, bags, packs, stoves, and cookware (also sold in Walmart stores) for prices ranging from $25 to $148. Allforth (online only) offers men’s and women’s fair-weather (nothing waterproof or insulated) hiking apparel in regular and plus sizes with prices ranging from $13 to $40.

The products are made in China by factories with experience manufacturing enthusiast-grade outdoor equipment, says Comerford. R&D was a team effort between Moosejaw experts, Walmart development and sourcing teams, and these factory partners.

The least expensive Lithic sleeping bag is a 35-degree synthetic that weighs just under 4 pounds and costs $64, which is comparable to many price-point bags already offered by established outdoor brands. The thing is, Walmart shoppers may not be familiar with Kelty and The North Face. This effort is about bringing new and better-performing alternatives to Walmart’s huge audience—many of whom may be people who, as Phillips says, are left out of the outdoor conversation.

The new brands launched just a few weeks before press time. Reviews are still coming in, and some of them are not glowing (google it for yourself).

Performance aside, some skeptics, like Walker-Flom, see Walmart’s move as opportunistic, not altruistic. “This is an issue of stores realizing they’re missing out on a whole market segment of passionate campers with limited funds. It’s great to have access to more affordable gear, but when it’s lower quality, you’ll pay now and then pay again when it wears out or breaks.”

But Comerford remains adamant that Lithic and Allforth will break down barriers by leveraging Walmart’s massive, loyal customer base and introducing them to better quality gear. “With the current backdrop of Black Lives Matter, it’s never been more important to grow the outdoor pie by making participation more inclusive,” he says.

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Stamping Out Racism

The Outdoor CEO Diversity Pledge catalyzes business leaders to bust up the all-white club

During the summer 2018 Outdoor Retailer show, Teresa Baker roamed the aisles and asked company leaders to sign her just-launched pledge to make outdoor businesses more inclusive of people of color. More than just a statement of intent, the Outdoor CEO Diversity Pledge committed signatories to developing a bona fide action plan.

And Baker is all about action. She was far from the first person to talk about the lack of diversity in the outdoor industry. But her Pledge, and the accountability it creates among leaders, has accelerated change in a powerful way.

Initially, Baker didn’t rouse an avalanche of responses. As founder of the African American National Park Event, she wasn’t a well-known figure within the industry. But she sensed that gear brands represented a powerful way to amplify her DEI efforts beyond the national parks. After all, Baker’s hikes around Big Sur and other spots near her California home convinced her that outdoor enthusiasts already included people of color. “We hike, ski, climb—we do all these things,” said Baker. “But looking at the social media feeds of [gear] brands, you wouldn’t know that.”

So along with Chris Perkins, a Yale University forestry student, Baker developed the Outdoor CEO Diversity Pledge and its supporting program. Marmot’s general manager, Joe Flannery (who has since moved on to Callaway Golf), was among the first to sign in May 2018. A year later, the Pledge had amassed 28 CEOs who promised to craft a specific set of actions for their companies to hire and support a diverse workforce and executive leadership; present representative marketing and advertising in media; engage and support broadly representative ambassador and athlete teams; and share best (and unsuccessful) practices within the industry.

Those focus areas and the consultations with Baker’s team have helped Granite Gear take DEI “to another level,” says Rob Coughlin, general manager, who signed the Pledge in 2018. “Teresa has had such an influence on me and made me look at myself really hard,” Coughlin said. That scrutiny prompted the brand to diversify its team of trash-removing Grounds Keeper hikers, to represent BIPOC and LGBTQ+ issues on its social channels, and to emphasize diversity when hiring. Still, Coughlin knows the work is far from done. When detractors slam the company’s representation of BIPOC and LGBTQ+ hikers in its newsletters and social media feeds, “That just makes us want to do more,” said Coughlin.

Such efforts are snowballing into even greater impact. At press time, more than 220 brands had signed the Pledge and 200 more were in the pipeline. The program’s job board now lets participating organizations target and recruit diverse candidates.

The current climate has awakened Americans’ understanding that opposing racism requires active change rather than passive agreement in the status quo. But the Outdoor CEO Diversity Pledge issued that call to action more than two years ago. Its earliest adopters are showing how a real commitment to this issue can lead to real change. “People are finally understanding that the demographics in this country are shifting into a scenario where people of color are dominant,” said Baker. “We need and we demand a change.”

Green Police

REI Co-op pushes the entire industry toward a more sustainable future

How can the biggest outdoor retailer in the country be a disruptor, you ask? Its size gives it leverage, and it’s using that leverage to change the way the industry makes gear.

In spring 2018, REI unveiled a new set of sustainability standards and told its more than 1,000 vendors that they’d need to comply with everything on that list by fall 2020—or lose the opportunity to sell through REI. The five guidelines (see sidebar, below) direct companies to pursue healthier supply chains, get savvy about harmful chemicals, and incorporate sustainable materials such as organic fibers, humanely sourced down, and Bluesign-certified fabrics into their products.

These might not seem like controversial asks. After all, who would argue against the treating factory workers fairly, or avoiding the use of toxic chemicals? Yet standard manufacturing practices continue to rely on habits that harm people, animals, and the planet—because changing those norms takes tremendous effort and resources. REI has forced the issue, and brands are scrambling to comply.

Of course, not all manufacturers are behind the curve. For some, REI’s requirements merely describe practices that they’ve already put in place. But they’re the exception, not the rule. REI wanted to hasten widespread adoption, so it issued an ultimatum and set out a clear path to reach it. “Our standards are meant to help scale sustainability best practices beyond just these leading brands and to make them more achievable by every brand across our industry,” explained Greg Gausewitz, REI’s product sustainability manager.

Some standards resonate with consumers (those who prefer humanely collected down, for example). Others dictate back-end changes to supply chains, logistics, and sustainability monitoring. The requirement for brands to complete the Higg Index self-assessment tool has proven to be so difficult that REI is revising the timeline for its compliance, to be released sometime in 2020. But the disruptive effect of REI’s product sustainability standards is about more than any one requirement. It’s the sum of the parts, and the fact that brands that aren’t willing to walk the sustainability talk will lose out on the industry’s most sought-after door, potentially devastating their businesses.

The threat shocked a number of brands, says outdoor industry veteran Ammi Borenstein. As principal at Snaplinc Consulting, Borenstein has helped a half dozen brands comply with REI’s standards. “They were asking, ‘How do I get my arms around this?’ Because many of them didn’t have any basic, meaningful sustainability foundation in place,” Borenstein said.

Yet REI’s requirements also set brands on a clear path to best practices, Borenstein said: “If you’re coming from zero, it’s very hard to know what to do first, but the standards provide a starting point and roadmap.”

Even Royal Robbins, which wasn’t starting from zero, received valuable guidance from the Product Sustainability Standards. “There were a lot of things that we were working on, but the guidelines helped to sharpen our focus,” explained Kaytlin Moeller, Royal Robbins’ brand sustainability manager. As a member of the Fenix Outdoor family of brands (which includes Fjällräven and Primus), Royal Robbins had already begun to map its supply chain and had asked its tier one suppliers (which sell directly to Royal Robbins) to sign onto a sustainability code of conduct, but REI’s standards nudged Royal Robbins to extend that code of conduct to tier two suppliers (which sell to tier one).

Now, Royal Robbins is evaluating how to eliminate the practice of wrapping individual products in polybags. “It can’t happen overnight because we need to make sure our logistical system is set up to process that change,” said Moeller. Ditching polybags represents a significant change in any company’s operations, but the hope from REI is that Royal Robbins and other brands will find big strides to be more achievable once the Product Sustainability Standards lay down the stepping stones.

Of course, REI benefits from its vendors’ advances in sustainability. “Third-party brands account for the majority of REI’s product sales,” said Gausewitz. “These products also account for the most significant component of REI’s environmental footprint. So if we want to bring a more sustainable offering to our customers and continuously reduce our footprint, it’s critical that we partner with the brands we work with.” REI has dropped brands that do not align with its standards, he adds.

A crib sheet on REI’s product sustainability standards

1. Create fair and safe supply chains, using a manufacturing code of conduct that outlines social and environmental standards and pursuing Fair Trade certification wherever possible.

2.ÌęManage chemical use to avoid toxic substances, such as oxybenzone (in sunscreens) and long-chain PFAS.

3. Source materials that comply with guidelines for responsible land stewardship, such as organic crops and wood certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.

4. Ensure that animal-derived materials (such as down, wool, and leather) come from animals that received humane treatment.

5. Address products’ environmental impacts across their entire life cycle—including disposal—by completing the Higg Index Brand & Retail Module.

However, says Borenstein, some of the most exciting and far-ranging impacts of the REI guidelines have been the ways that brands are now exploring sustainability beyond those basic requirements. Fulfilling REI’s sustainability expectations has prompted a groundswell of excitement within companies that’s buoying them to greater things. “People want to do the right thing, and they want to work for a company where they know they do the right thing, so we’ve seen [REI’s guidelines] activating employee excitement,” he said. “When it becomes meaningful to brands’ customers, employees, and leadership, companies start dedicating money and time to it. That’s when sustainability takes on a life of its own.”

As with any change to the status quo, results can be somewhat hard to track, but REI remains optimistic that its efforts will address the biggest problem of our time: climate change. “We do not yet have data to show the carbon benefits of our standards,” Gausewitz said. “Addressing climate change is at the heart of our mission to fight for life outdoors, and our Product Sustainability Standards are an important tool in that fight. We continue to work to get better data so we can fine-tune our efforts and better understand our impact.”

No Strings Attached

Stio provides retailers with new gear on consignment terms

It’s one of retail’s most fundamental tenets: Shops buy goods at wholesale, sell them to consumers, then figure out what to do with the inventory that doesn’t sell. But, in 2016, Stio hatched a novel kind of consignment deal that placed new apparel “on wheels” in select brick-and-mortar outdoor retailers. If items don’t sell there, Stio takes them back and doesn’t charge the shop. The program, called Outpost, lets Stio sell product in retail shops while retaining the direct-to-customer model at the core of its business. But it also opened retailers’ eyes to a new realm of possibility for their partnerships with manufacturers and the idea is catching on.

“It gives specialty retail some bargaining leverage,” said Brendan Madigan, owner of Alpenglow Sports in Tahoe City, California. He says that his participation in Stio’s Outpost program has made him reevaluate his existing relationships. “I can say hey, here’s a company that’s giving me the same terms you do, but with zero inventory risk,” said Madigan. And Outpost addresses one of Madigan’s biggest, most persistent problems: cash flow.

With Outpost, Stio provides retailers with product, delivered about eight times per year (compared to the two deliveries in spring and fall that are the norm for the broader apparel industry). Those retailers are not permitted to market Stio pieces using any kind of national reach, so Stio retains control of its brand identity. But retailers are expected to honor flash sales and seasonal clearances that Stio occasionally offers through its DTC channel. Retailers collect the typical, keystone wholesale margin. And they return unsold items to Stio, which developed the program because retailers kept asking for a way to carry Stio apparel in their stores. According to Stio, only a very small percentage of product has been returned, which Stio combines with its other inventory for sale online.

“It started at the insistence of a bunch of old retail friends of mine,” explained Stio founder Stephen Sullivan, who had developed extensive retailer relationships during his days at Cloudveil (another Jackson-based apparel brand that Sullivan helmed until 2010). Jans in Park City, Utah, and Sturtevants in Ketchum, Idaho, were among the first retailers to become Stio Outposts. “We seek out high-quality shops that really focus on customer engagement, have high-quality staff, and invest in a lot of staff training,” Sullivan said.

Madigan likes that such terms let him be more financially fluid. But he also thinks they separate the wheat from the chaff. “There are a lot of average brands in a saturated, competitive market,” he said. Offering retailers product on wheels strengthens retailers’ negotiating position and puts pressure on manufacturing brands to earn their spot in brick-and-mortar showcases.

Currently, the Outpost program includes about 40 stores, and Sullivan expects that number to grow—albeit slowly. “I think a lot of the other brands are probably pissed off at me for having stuff on wheels, so we won’t expand it too aggressively,” Sullivan joked. Besides, Outpost is most valuable as a piece of Stio’s broader puzzle of markets; leaning too hard on it for sales incurs too much inventory risk. But from a branding and marketing standpoint, said Sullivan, it’s been very successful. “It’s hard to quantify what it’s done,” he admitted. “For us, it’s been a way to build consumer awareness, especially in major metro areas away from our core markets in the mountains.”

Not every apparel brand is likely to be able to offer product on wheels, Sullivan says, because most are dedicated to traditional wholesale models. Nevertheless, at least one major brand—The North Face—is dabbling with buy-backs. When contacted, the company declined to elaborate on its policies. “While we don’t disclose our specific sales programs, we do support our retail partners in a number of ways to ensure our relationship is positive for them,” said The North Face spokesperson Kali Platt. But multiple retailers have confirmed that they’ve accepted “on wheels” deliveries of The North Face product, such as the high-dollar Summit Series line of alpine apparel.

If so-called pinnacle products are shipping to stores on wheels, that could be enough to tip the entire brick-and-mortar retail model.

The Breakaway

The Big Gear Show goes its own way

The Outdoor Retailer trade show has been the industry’s reigning conference since 1982, when 93 exhibitors gathered in Las Vegas. But The Big Gear Show has designs on OR’s dominance: This upstart is planning a new trade show, to stage just weeks after Outdoor Retailer’s typical Summer Market (and in the very city that OR abandoned, Salt Lake), with exhibitor rates that radically undercut OR. Of course, there’s no telling yet if anyone will win this showdown or if the industry has an appetite for two shows. Both were canceled this summer because of COVID-19—but The Big Gear Show has clearly fired a shot across Outdoor Retailer’s bow.

The Big Gear Show’s founders, Darren Bush and Sutton Bacon, both hail from retail—specifically the paddling realm (Bush currently owns Rutabaga Paddlesports in Madison, Wisconsin, and Bacon was CEO of the Nantahala Outdoor Center from 2007 to 2018). Convinced that OR had become too expensive and too focused on apparel, they launched the Paddlesports Retailer show in 2017. Buyers liked that the show took place in late summer (rather than in June, which is the busiest month for paddling shops) but they preferred the diversity of brands and traffic that comes with a multisport exhibition like OR. So Bush and Bacon revised Paddlesports Retailer into The Big Gear Show, which includes paddling, cycling, camping, and climbing brands—but is limited to hardgoods only.

“So much of the [outdoor] industry is based around apparel, but that timing doesn’t work for all aspects of the outdoor industry,” said Kenji Haroutunian, who directed the Outdoor Retailer and Fly Fishing Retailer shows before Bush and Bacon tapped him to direct The Big Gear Show. Tents and kayaks, for example, aren’t always updated every year (as apparel generally is) and such hardgoods aren’t always made in Asia, where most apparel gets sewn, which makes lead times shorter. Plus, Haroutunian adds, the buying practices for apparel and hardgoods differ, so most retailers dedicate separate buyers for each category. “Hardgoods buyers from retail stores can order just a few tents to test how they sell; they don’t have to buy a whole season’s worth of jeans and button-down flannels as they would for apparel,” he explained.

By calling out jeans and flannels, Haroutunian hints at the increasingly mainstream character of OR. As that trade show welcomes more streetwear, home furnishings, fashion footwear, and other goods that don’t qualify as “gear,” it has ballooned into a much bigger, more generalized production that can seem less relevant to core outdoor brands.

Beyond hardgoods, there are other ways that The Big Gear Show offers a narrower focus than OR. Its target is specialty retail, “not so much the big-box stores or even REI,” said Haroutunian. Nor is The Big Gear Show chasing the biggest manufacturers, he adds. Instead of exhibiting Patagonia and The North Face, says Haroutunian, the show will highlight 50 to 100 smaller brands such as Inno, which makes roof rack systems, and Liberty, a purveyor of water bottles. And those brands will benefit from exposure to consumers, since The Big Gear Show is expected to be partially open to the public, as OR was in its earlier days.

Adaptations to COVID-19 forced The Big Gear Show to reschedule its debut for August 3-5, 2021. In the interim, smaller brands and retailers will have an even greater need to compare ideas for how to survive and overcome this common challenge. Thus COVID-19 is likely to make The Big Gear Show even more relevant.

Retailers are ready for a trade show shakeup. As Wes Allen, owner of Sunlight Sports in Cody, Wyoming, said, “The advent of the Big Gear Show will disrupt the outdoor trade show landscape, giving retailers and brands a large-format show experience for discovery, without the large price tag.”

This story originally ran in the Summer 2020 issue of The Voice.

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In 1992, I was hired as the first black independent sales representative for The North Face (TNF). Back then, TNF was privately owned and headquartered in Berkeley, California. On the way home from my very first sales meeting, I happened to bump into the company president, Bill Werlin, at the United ticket counter at the Oakland Airport.

“He’s with me,” Werlin said to the agent as I handed over my checked bag. In those days it was free. With a few clicks of her keyboard the woman exchanged my coach reservation for an upgraded seat next to my new boss in first class. “Here you go,” she said. “Have a nice flight.”

As a freshly minted junior executive, I was pretty excited to have that kind of one-on-one time with the top of senior management. For almost three hours, as we sipped glasses of white wine paired with rosemary roasted chicken over wild rice, we talked about my plans to sell our products across my six-state territory in the Midwest. He seemed impressed by my apparent lack of fear over meeting a seven-figure sales goal by the end of the year. “I can only imagine what it must be like for you out there,” he said. “I just want you to know I think you’ll do a great job.”

That was pretty much all the encouragement I needed to succeed. I felt like I was part of a great team and I was given every opportunity to grow business for TNF from Chicago to St. Louis, Milwaukee to Minneapolis. But when I started pressing the company to expand its outreach to include people of color, I was met with resistance. By 1993, Bill Werlin had left TNF and would later become the general manager of Patagonia in Japan. Under new management, and in the midst of flagging sales and an impending bankruptcy, the company felt the best strategy was a top-down media campaign to promote its high-profile expeditions on Mount Everest and the many talented, exclusively white, mostly male alpinists who made up the outward face of the company.

At the same time, however, there was also a growing interest in our products among communities of color. I was psyched! Hip hop artists were wearing TNF down jackets with Timberland boots in concerts and in videos on MTV. Black folks were embracing outdoor clothing as high fashion. But at a TNF sales meeting, when I suggested that we reach out to affluent consumers of color, like those who attend the high-energy, mostly black National Brotherhood of Skiers Summits, I was told in no uncertain terms, “James, that’s just not our market.”

Opportunities Ignored, Progress Denied

For the rest of the decade through the end of the 20th century, most companies in the outdoor industry followed TNF’s lead. They followed the money. The North Face emerged from bankruptcy to reaffirm an image of the great outdoors that was affluent, sophisticated, rugged, and incredibly white. Marketing campaigns from companies like Sierra Designs, Mountain Hardwear, Patagonia, Columbia, and Marmot projected this image that was reinforced by the editorial prowess of magazines including șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű, Backpacker, Rock & Ice, and Alpinist. These media messages were virtually devoid of people of color. And though Black and Brown folks were never explicitly discouraged from becoming more active participants in pastimes such as camping, hiking, kayaking, and backcountry skiing, there was really no concerted effort within the outdoor industry to encourage or welcome them to become part of this exciting business. Few senior executives seemed willing to make room in the first-class cabin to bring aboard a new generation of outdoor professionals, many of whom might have been people of color.

That’s why today, as several of these same companies make bold statements to declare their commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, I am naturally skeptical.

A Revised History Doomed to Repeat Itself

The recent violent deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and other Black Americans have compelled many to use their influence to work toward substantive social change. Though I don’t doubt the sincerity of my many friends and colleagues throughout the industry to do the right thing, I wonder if this newfound desire to stand up against racism will truly last.

Recently VF Corporation president Steve Rendle says that at his company, which now owns The North Face, “Racism is not welcome
it never has been and it never will be.” I know from personal experience that statement, at least as far as TNF is concerned, isn’t true. Racism is not limited to acts of physical violence or the segregation of lunch counters and drinking fountains. Racism can also include the failure of a company or an entire industry to create a professional environment in which everyone is welcome and encouraged to participate.

A few days ago, Timberland, another VF Company, re-released an ad from 1993 that affirms its intention to “Give Racism The Boot.” The message shared on social media is an effort to illustrate the shoe brand’s long legacy of social justice. But those of us paying attention at the time may recall that this ad was met with more than a little skepticism. Senior management had freely admitted that it was a naked attempt to reluctantly court an emerging “urban” market of young consumers.

“If you hear that hip-hop kids are wearing Timberland boots and women are wearing Timberland boots with sun dresses at a Donna Karan fashion show, that’s coin in current dollars. But how in the world is that sustainable?” said Jeffrey Swartz, then Timberland’s executive vice president and grandson of the company’s founder, as quoted in the New York Times.

“Mr. Swartz flatly denied any plan to dissociate his company’s name from young, black and Hispanic consumers in America’s inner cities for the sake of the company’s image,” wrote Times reporter Michel Marriott. “In fact, he said he was pleased that a new market had sprung on its own. ‘Their money spends good,’ he says. But he also stressed his position that public taste is fickle and that he was not going to ‘build his business on smoke.’”

This very cynical view of America’s youth culture of 1990s, which was heavily influenced by the rise of hip hop, was common among many outdoor-facing brands. Despite a growing affection among people of color for down, fleece, Gore-Tex and other technical fabrics, the outdoor industry wanted nothing to do with them, except to take their money.

“The youth market came after us,” said Jason Russell, then the director of marketing for Carhartt, to the Times. “’Fine, they like to wear what we make. But we will never go after that market aggressively.’ To do that, Mr. Russell added, ‘we would be walking away from our roots.’”

I’ve been in this business long enough now to see a bit of our history repeating itself. How much of our current interest in diversity, equity, and inclusion is a response to the existential threat of losing a share of a growing market largely comprised of Black and Brown people? Are we truly prepared to deny the white-male-dominated roots for our past to embrace a new demographic of consumers that include the plus sized, the disabled, the indigenous, those who don’t speak English, members of the LGBTQ+ community, and other marginalized people?

If we’re serious about addressing issues of DEI, we must do more than just declare that Black Lives Matter. We have to deliberately and explicitly create opportunities for people from all walks of life to not only succeed in the outdoor industry but to thrive. Each of us must be prepared to make room in the first-class cabin and in the C suites. We might even have to give up our seats. The ride in coach is just as good, as long as we all get to where we’re going together. Otherwise, any efforts to move forward may as well be built on smoke.

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As Clint Pumphrey sifted through stacks of outdoor brands’ old catalogs, he came across products he’s never seen before—products that have faded into gear manufacturers’ pasts, with some never to be worn again. In a 1978 Marmot catalog, a full-page picture shows a cyclist glowing in the dark in a “Night Rider” reflective windsuit.

“It’s a product that demonstrates how the equipment we use today is the result of a decades-long process of trial-and-error, innovation, and reaction to changing consumer preferences,” Pumphrey, a manuscripts curator at Utah State University, said.

“At the same time, some things in these catalogs are more familiar, like the abundance of red-laced, brown hiking boots in the 1977 REI catalog,” he said. “It goes to show that in some ways, style and design can be enduring, or at least cyclical, as well.”

But those products will live on. In a joint effort with Utah State’s Outdoor Product Development and Design program, the school’s Special Collections and Archives department is building a research collection for scholars and enthusiasts of outdoor recreation’s history to enjoy the same discoveries Pumphrey has in pulling together the library.

The collection currently includes around 1,300 outdoor product catalogs dating from the early 1900s to the early 2000s, published by dozens of existing and defunct outdoor gear manufacturers and retailers—from Chouinard Equipment to Sierra Designs to L.L. Bean.

“With its explosive growth over the last few decades, the outdoor industry has firmly positioned itself as a significant part of the commercial, environmental, and social fabric of the country, and nowhere is that more evident than here in the West,” Pumphrey said.

The Outdoor Industry’s Past, Preserved

Marmot’s 1978 Catalog

The “Night Rider” cycle jacket helped cyclists to “be seen at night.”

REI’s 1985 Catalog

Winter spirit was alive in ’85, with REI selling jackets, tents, and more.

Chouinard’s 1964 Catalog

A history of firsts from Chouinard, including a Chouinard carabiner from 1957 and Chouinard stoppers from 1972.

Marmot Catalog from After 1985

Ultralight was in even back then.

The school is hoping to expand beyond catalogs to supplement the collection with other published materials—outdoor recreation guides and publications—as well as unpublished items— correspondence, field journals, reports, photographs, and more.

As a public institution, Utah State is making the collections accessible to anyone in the community. Students in the OPDD program—the next generation of gear makers—will also have access to the historical records for projects and inspiration for the future.

“We see an opportunity to preserve the history and heritage of outdoor products that not only the industry will be able to enjoy as it’s safely preserved in a neutral site, but our students who will be the future designers of the industry will have the opportunity to study influential brands, designs, and products and develop an appreciation for the industry’s heritage into the future,” OPDD program coordinator Chase Anderson said. “We see a real opportunity for the legacy of brands, products, and individuals to live on in the future designers of the industry coming out of our program.”

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Located on the shores of its namesake lake, Whitefish, Montana, is known for its dramatic outdoor vistas. But in the charming resort town, The Toggery has become its own kind of destination.

Originally opened as Frank’s Shirt Shop in 1947 by Frank and Jessie Stephens, the store sold menswear—suits, shirts, ties, and the like—to the men of Whitefish. As the shop passed hands through a few generations of Stephens, it morphed and evolved to fit the needs of the growing community. After Frank Stephens passed away, his son Gary Stephens introduced women’s clothing and footwear. And the family tradition continued when Gary Stephens passed the shop to his son—the current owner—Trek Stephens. When Trek Stephens took over and attended his first Outdoor Retailer in 2004, he again revamped the business.

“Nobody was buying the suits and ties or dressing up, so he was really intrigued with the outdoor world,” said his wife, Rene Stephens. “He changed it over and got rid of the more dress-wear and brought in the active lifestyle stuff.”

Tour The Toggery

Feminine pieces, like sweaters and magenta vests, soften the darker decor of antlers and wood and leather.

The Toggery carries both small and big-name brands.

Chacos is one of the major footwear brands at The Toggery.

Denim shorts can be outdoorsy too.

Leather fashion boots line the wall alongside classic hiking boots.

Fun prints add pops of color.

Want to dress like this? The Toggery offers fashion consulting before and after hours.

OR Meets LA Market

Now renamed The Toggery—a name derived from the 18th century slang term tog, meaning coat or outer garment—the Stephens brand it as an “outdoor lifestyle” shop. Still in the same location of the original Frank’s Shirt Shop, the store emits a down-to-earth, yet contemporary vibe all at the same time.

Weathered brick walls, rich hardwood floors, and naked lightbulbs strung across the ceiling create the backdrop for trendy clothing and accessories adorning the various racks and tables. Chic jumpsuits and sundresses are paired with the newest styles of Chaco, and flannels are complemented by stylish Bedstu boots.

To keep a pulse on both the outdoor and fashion aspects of the business, the Stephens attend both Outdoor Retailer and fashion trade shows, like Magic and LA Market. So you can just as easily find brands like Free People filling the racks as you can Marmot or KĂŒhl.

“We pride ourselves on offering well-known brands that serve a function but don’t sacrifice style,” according to the Products page on its website. “You’ll find outfits, shoes, and accessories that will take you from the mountains to the barbecue!”

Rene Stephens, who co-owns The Toggery, says the design was intentional to differentiate themselves from other outdoor specialty retailers.

“Being a brick-and-mortar store in a resort town, you have to be different,” she said. “I don’t want people to walk in my store and think it looks like every other store.”

Styling for Any Occasion

But what’s a shopper to do when they sees waxed canvas and unfamiliar accessories next to their default purchase of plaid and jeans? The Stephens really shine in their commitment to fashion by offering free style consultations, ensuring customers don’t get lost in the process.

All a customer has to do is fill out a form (found on The Toggery’s website) detailing size and style preferences, and pick a time to come into the store before or after hours. Customers get the store to themselves, along with someone to help pick out clothes.

“It takes a lot of time to go through all the clothes,” Rene Stephens said. “There is such a diverse mix, [and this way] you can dial in what you’re looking for.”

Through more than 70 years of retail experience, the Stephens have discovered that customers with unique body types really appreciate help finding gear and clothing that fits properly. The more descriptive the customer is about their wants and needs, the more targeted the consultation. “We can capture the whole audience instead of pigeonholing people and saying you have to be a size two or eight to shop in this store,” Rene Stephens said.

This #CoolShop has long been committed to the happiness of each individual customer, and their style consultations are just another way of making sure everyone can find gear that fits and functions for them personally.

“Because that’s what everybody wants—a personal experience,” Rene Stephens said.

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Full disclosure: gear is a wicked subjective thing. Always has been, always will be. To curate this list, our team of hardcore—and highly opinionated—gearheads pored over hundreds of new product launches, reading the specs and sifting through the marketing promises. We zoomed in on photos and watched embargoed video clips. And we debated. We culled the massive list down once, then made another pass until we had our 50 most coveted products. Then we voted to determine the rankings (we are a democracy, after all). In order of how badly we want to try it, here is Part One of our list of the 50 most exciting product launches for Fall 2019.

1. The North Face FutureLight

THE PROMISE It seeks to solve the waterproof/breathable problem and dethrone Gore-Tex as the gold standard.

THE DEETS An industrial process known as nanospinning sprays polymers through up to 220,000 tiny nozzles to create a waterproof yet highly porous mesh-like membrane. Nanoholes allow air to pass through and moisture vapor to escape, keeping users dry and comfortable, not clammy and cold.

THE STOKE Next-level breathability, waterproofness, and sustainability in the shell category. Bring it on.

2. PrimaLoft Biodegradable Fabric

THE PROMISE It will degrade quicker than any other fabric if you bury it in your backyard.

THE DEETS A shell and now a fabric are infused with a food source that attracts microbes at a faster rate when in a landfill. What’s left after the bacteria breaks down the fibers is simply water, carbon dioxide, methane, and natural organic matter—like compost. But the biodegradable polyester doesn’t compromise durability.

THE STOKE A fuzzy fabric that vanishes instead of clogging up landfills and polluting oceans? Be still our hearts.

3. Ombraz Armless Sunglasses [$160]

THE PROMISE Cordage, baby: that’s the future of sunglasses.

THE DEETS The adjustable polyester cord running between the temples and around the back of your head keeps the glasses snug to your face and ditches the possibility of broken glasses arms and head-squeezing pressure. Plus, acting like built-in eyewear retainers, they’re harder to lose and either hang around your neck when you take them off or function like a headband.

THE STOKE These things look crazy (like a fox), but after an early test, we fell in love. “No pinching, no pressure, and steazy AF: Yes, please,” said one tester.

4. Black Diamond Vision Down Parka [$399]

THE PROMISE A puffy tough enough for tree skiing.

THE DEETS According to BD, this burly fabric initially stumped designers because it was so difficult to cut. A polymer weave crisscrossing the 20-denier face fabric adds a lot of durability without penalizing weight. This 800-fill hydrophobic down toaster comes in at an airy one pound, four ounces.

THE STOKE Say goodbye to duct-tape patch jobs on your warmest layer: This one looks rugged enough to dance on in crampons. It could be a revolution in lightweight durability.

5. Outdoor Research Tundra Aerogel Booties [$69-$89]

THE PROMISE With NASA-designed Aerogel underfoot in these synthetic camp booties, cold doesn’t stand a chance.

THE DEETS Solid Aerogel won’t compress like typical insulation, so it’ll keep your feet warm even while you’re standing on it. Plus, a grippy outsole steadies you on the icy trail to the outhouse. Also available in a low-cut slip-on version.

THE STOKE Aerogel has been popping up more and more in outdoor gear, but its lack of breathability has held it back. The bottom of a camp bootie seems like the ideal application.

6. Marmot West Rib Parka [$600]

THE PROMISE The West Rib features unique gridded down baffles to boost warmth in the extreme cold.

THE DEETS Marmot packed 800-fill down into cube-shaped baffles around the chest of this deep-winter puffy to trap warmth around your body. Synthetic insulation layered between the down and the Pertex Quantum shell material adds weather protection and durability.

THE STOKE We’re curious about the cubist baffles and layered use of synthetic fill. This thing sounds like a serious volcano.

7. Dahu E’corce 01 Boot [$TBD]

THE PROMISE It looks and operates like no other ski boot on the market.

THE DEETS The Grilamid shell has cutouts to eliminate pressure points and the liner is beefy enough to walk around in. The unique entry system has hinges at the front and back of the boot, creating a giant opening.

THE STOKE Comfort. Ease of use. Versatility. Boom.

8. Sweet Protection Interstellar Goggle [$220]

THE PROMISE The lens won’t fog. Period.

DEETS The Gore membrane increases moisture and air transfer, equalizing air pressure and preventing condensation. Retina Illumination Grading increases contrast and enhances vision in low-light conditions, and the carbon-reinforced frame creates a rigid structure for the lens.

THE STOKE Gore-Tex in a goggle? Just plain fascinating.

9. Six Moon Haven DCF Tent [$400]

THE PROMISE This is the ultimate featherweight shelter for fastpacking duos.

THE DEETS The Haven DCF is a shaped, supported tarp made of Dyneema Composite Fabric, which offers extreme durability at a paltry 12-ounce weight. With two doors, a peak height of 45 inches, and 51 square feet of interior space, it can also be paired with the Haven Net Tent to create a fully enclosed double-wall shelter at just one pound, four ounces.

THE STOKE Dyneema tents are the new standard in ultra-ultralight, and this one sets the bar high… er, low.

10. Patagonia Black Hole Collection [starting at $29]

THE PROMISE Every Black Hole pack, duffel, tote, and waist pack gives plastic bottles and factory scraps another life.

THE DEETS It’s still burly, thanks to 90-denier poly ripstop with a TPU laminate and a DWR finish, but it now uses 100 percent recycled fabric, lining, and webbing.

THE STOKE Tally this up as yet another reason to love our favorite duffel.

11. Black Diamond Equipment JetForce Pro [$1,399]

THE PROMISE It’s the most advanced avalanche air bag pack out there.

THE DEETS This new version of BD’s award-winning JetForce series is still rechargeable and travel friendly. But the Pro is modular, letting you zip on and off a 10-, 25-, 35-, or 25-liter splitboard booster pack, making it super-versatile.

THE STOKE The modular design sets rippers up to stay safe on any day.

12. Tecnica Forge Winter [$300]

THE PROMISE Get a customized fit in a ready-for-winter hiker.

THE DEETS Like its three-season counterpart, the Forge Winter features in-store custom shaping for a perfect fit. It also adds Vibram’s Arctic Grip outsole and a Gore-Tex insulated comfort lining for waterproof/breathable insulation.

THE STOKE We fell in love with the original Forge, so a warm, winterized version is a no-brainer.

13. Rab Verglas Jacket [$375]

THE PROMISE It combines the best features of a parka and a shell—without turning you into a hot mess.

THE DEETS The Verglas is packed with 750-fill hydrophobic down for warmth, and Gore-Tex Shakedry over the 20-denier Pertex Quantum makes it waterproof while keeping it lightweight and mega-breathable.

THE STOKE For cold days with precip, this puffy looks like a winner if Shakedry can hold up to abuse.

14. Fischer Urban Cross-Country Ski Boot [$189]

THE PROMISE This is the first Nordic ski boot designed to take you from home to trail to aprés.

THE DEETS With a sneaker-like sole and chukka-style upper, you’d never know this was a cross-country ski boot. Designed for skiers less focused on racing and performance and more on casual exercise, it’s compatible with Fischer Turnamics and any NNN compatible binding.

THE STOKE Nordic boots have never looked so good.

15. Julbo Reactiv Performance Lenses [Starting at $210]

THE PROMISE Ski from dawn to dusk on bright bluebirds or during storm sessions.

THE DEETS The lenses—available in both shades and goggles—magically transition from clear (87 percent visible light transmission) to dark (12 percent VLT) in record time: roughly 20 seconds.

THE STOKE These just might be the one-quiver shades and goggles we’ve been looking for.

16. Holden Outerwear Corkshell Summit Bib [$600]

THE PROMISE Cork is the insulation of the future.

THE DEETS These bibs (and their matching jacket) incorporate Schoeller’s recycled cork content to add heat retention without the bulk of traditional lofted insulation.

THE STOKE We’re always intrigued when brands find new ways to recycle materials, and companies have been chasing warmth without bulk for ages. Could this be the one that actually delivers?

17. G3 FindR Skis [$869-$919]

THE PROMISE Leave the ski straps at home. Magnets hold these skis together.

THE DEETS Updated for 2019, the powder-cruising FINDr series now features magnetic contact points, making bootpack transitions quick and easy, and eliminating the need for straps when shouldering your skis.

THE STOKE Pick ‘em up, stick ‘em together, walk away. Sounds pretty slick.

18. Blizzard Zero G 95 [$840]

THE PROMISE It’s typically either/or: lightweight or stiffness. These are your new no-compromise skis.

THE DEETS The Zero G 95 touring ski strikes the ideal balance between uphill comfort and downhill charging, thanks to a carbon fiber frame that’s integrated over the wood core to reduce weight for speed on the skin track while still delivering a high level of stiffness for downhill performance.

THE STOKE Light feet on the uphill and stiff shred-ability on the down? ‘Nuf said.

19. Smartwool Intraknit 200 Base Layers [starting at $120]

THE PROMISE It’s the ultimate in body mapping.

THE DEETS Intraknit technology is a first-in-industry 3D knitting technique that can marry different weights of fabric into a single garment, without the use of seams. (The company already uses the technology in its socks.)

THE STOKE This sounds very much like the FuseForm tech that (sister company) The North Face introduced in shells a few years back. The concept makes even more sense in baselayers, where multiple seams can make body-mapped baselayers chafe in all the wrong places.

20. GoLite ReFill Eco 100 Jacket [$250]

THE PROMISE Keep warm and divert green plastic bottles from the landfill.

THE DEETS At a Taiwanese recycling plant, volunteers collect and sort bottles, and GoLite snags the ones nobody else wants—the green ones—and turns them into dye-free clothing, like this PrimaLoft Silver Eco-filled puffy.

THE STOKE Recycled products are nothing new, but we dig how GoLite found a way to use the bottles that stump other apparel makers.

21. Mammut Meron IN [$449]

THE PROMISE It’s as warm as you can get, without the bulk.

THE DEETS Premium 900-fill down is shelled with a lightweight, water-repellent Toray ripstop nylon and lined with an equally light, semi-transparent lining that traps the down.

THE STOKE It’s hard to make a puffy this warm not look like a Michelin man. This one does it through the magic of smart patterning.

22. Salomon S/Pro Boot Collection [$800]

THE PROMISE Get a custom-like fit, without all the hassle and expense.

THE DEETS Salomon digitally scanned more than 4,000 feet to identify a shell that’s compatible with 70 percent of the European/North American market without needing any significant modification.

THE STOKE Any respectable skier knows that custom-molding your boots is mandatory. Our apologies to all the boot-fitters out there, but this could be good.

23. Atomic Savor [$1,545]

THE PROMISE It’s the ultimate starter kit.

THE DEETS In an effort to combat exhaustion, soreness, and complicated equipment, Savor includes painless-entry boots, easy-to-handle skis, and a comfortable helmet designed specifically for rookies.

THE STOKE Want to get your SO on the slopes with you? This package might be your ticket to paradise.

The post The Voice 50, Part One appeared first on șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Online.

For almost a decade, industry professionals have wrung their hands over issues of diversity in outdoor recreation. Data from the 2010 U.S. Census formally revealed a demographic reality that many suspected, but few believed to be inevitable. The population is shifting. As communities of color continue to grow in number, it is estimated that people of European descent in this country will no longer be the majority by 2042.

In an industry whose primary customer base—namely middle to upper class, college educated white people—is demonstratively shrinking, Teresa Baker, the founder of African American Nature and Parks Experience, says that increased diversity is critical to the survival of the outdoor recreation business.

That’s why Baker will be walking the aisles at Outdoor Retailer Summer Market next week, seeking signatories for her new Outdoor Industry CEO Diversity Pledge. The Pledge compels outdoor executives to create, promote, and enforce policies that expand the diversity, equity, and inclusion of their employees, board members, and customers.

In the hopes of bringing underrepresented segments of the population into the community of outdoor enthusiasts, which include people of color, the disabled, veterans, low income families, and those who identify as LGBTQ, Baker aims to expand the community of environmental stewards who will advocate for the protection of the natural world.

“The reason I do this is for the environment,” Baker said in an interview. “A lot of people overlook that we are fighting for these outdoor spaces. There are so many attacks on our public lands that we need more faces involved in fighting off these threats. The more faces the better chance we have of countering some of these very public fights that are taking place.”

Crafted by a small committee of environmental activists, and written by Chris Perkins, a master’s degree candidate at the Yale School of Forestry,​ the document defines the steps outdoor industry companies can take to better represent a broad cross section of the American public. Making a business case for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the outdoor industry, Baker hopes to encourage the preservation of public land by growing the constituency of those who use it for recreation.

First, There was Camber Outdoors’ CEO Pledge

In 2015, Camber Outdoors issued a similar challenge to the outdoor industry, the CEO Pledge, which asked leaders to promote gender equity. The group made a compelling case for the inclusion of women as a long-term strategy to encourage productivity and innovation across the professional spectrum. More than 75 companies signed on, and since then, progress has been made.

Earlier last week, Camber announced a shift in its mission from, “Equality for all women in the outdoors, from the backcountry to boardroom,” to “Equity in the outdoors, from boardroom to backcountry,” also acknowledging the need for the outdoor industry to do more to diversify its ranks.

Camber’s Workplace Equity Working Group will formally launch at next week’s Summer Outdoor Retailer Show. The group plans to directly engage industry companies and institutions to explore the depths of their DEI efforts to make outdoor recreation more accessible to everyone.

Camber Outdoors’ executive director, Deanne Buck, said many of Baker’s principles, as outlined, seem to parallel Camber’s CEO Pledge.

“This Pledge is incorporating many of the tenets of the Camber Outdoors’ Pledge that was co-created by outdoor industry leaders over three years ago. Since that time, Camber Outdoors has stood shoulder-to-shoulder with our partner companies in their commitment to gender equity in the workplaces as a strategic business imperative,” Buck wrote in an email. “It is not easy work and takes trust and partnership. With the evolution of Camber Outdoors’ mission, the WEWG is the platform for the exchange of best practices identified in Teresa’s pledge and the evolution of the Camber Outdoors CEO Pledge to align with the mission.”

What Is the Diversity Pledge?

Baker’s document outlines four primary goals:

• Hire and support a diverse workforce and executive leadership
• Present marketing and advertising that is representative of the population at large
• Engage and support broadly representative ambassadors and athlete teams.
• Share best practices within the industry

Company leaders who sign the Diversity Pledge commit themselves to making changes to their business practices. They also agree to have these modifications verified by an outside observer and published for the general public to see. On the website diversifyoutdoors.com, curated by Danielle Williams of Melanin Base Camp, an advocate for diversity in outdoor recreation, visitors will have the opportunity to see and quantifiably evaluate a given company’s compliance with The Pledge.

“A lot of brands are already doing the work, we’re just not seeing it. This Pledge will help what they’re doing to be seen,” Baker said.

Marmot CEO Joe Flannery was the first to sign The Diversity Pledge. Flannery, who also signed Camber’s CEO Pledge, recognizes the value in appealing to a more diverse customer base. “Marmot has always worked to make high-quality gear that gives people confidence and comfort in the outdoors,” Flannery said in a written statement. “By signing on first to the pledge, we ensure that our efforts are inclusive to anyone who wants to go outside.”

Has the Outdoor Industry Reached a Tipping Point?

The Pledge is part of an emerging trend in the business world in general and the outdoor industry in particular. This document arrives on the scene as many different organizations and institutions are embracing the importance of diversity and are proactively working to achieve it.

Over the last several years, members of the outdoor industry have gathered to advance the cause of diversity. At the Outdoor Retailer Summer Market in 2013, Kenji Haroutunian, a Japanese-Armenian-American invited a bunch of people to lunch, all individuals who were championing the cause of diversity and inclusion in their organizations. Haroutunian has quietly continued this work with his bi-annual luncheon called the DEI Forum. This year’s event will likely host more than 100 industry professionals, diversity advocates, and allies.

After years of speculation on the issue of diversity in outdoor recreation it seems the industry is at last rising up to address the challenge head on. While many CEOs will likely struggle with how best to act on the desire to make their businesses more inclusive, more and more resources are becoming available to help them achieve this goal.

The outdoor industry has collectively acknowledged the need to do better. Now we just have to put our money where our mouth is.

The post Pushing for Progress in Outdoor Diversity appeared first on șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Online.

On a snowy day, back in February 2012, Dr. Gary Selwyn was busy in his kitchen in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He wasn’t fixing up a stew. Instead, he was blending hydrocarbon-based monomers, cross-linkers and polymerization initiators.

The chemist, formerly at Los Alamos National Laboratory, was used to big challenges and this one was no different. He was preparing a formula that had the potential to disrupt the textile industry for the next 100 years—a replacement for perfluorinated fluorocarbon (PFCs).

PFCs are chemicals commonly found in Durable Water Repellents (DWRs) on performance textiles. PFCs have been used extensively for the last 50 years. But new data and mounting lawsuits underscored the need for this to change. In conventional textile finishing, fabrics are pulled through a water-based “bath” containing the harmful PFCs. PFCs are persistent, so when the bath is flushed, the same PFCs end up in the groundwater and soil. Then, those same carcinogenic PFCs end up inside our bodies, where they can lead to cancer and birth defects.

Dr. Selwyn was determined to find a new way to create a PFC-Free finishing technology that offered superior water repellency. He found that water-free finishing was the way to go. The future of dry finishing technology was just being born.

Around the same time, Greenpeace issued a radical challenge, calling for outdoor companies to stop using harmful PFCs in their Durable Water Repellent (DWR) treatments.

It was music to Selwyn’s ears, because his kitchen experiments had produced a major development: a radical new finishing technology that not only met the Greenpeace challenge, but outperformed fabrics treated with the traditional “dirty” DWRs. Even better, it used no water.

Selwyn’s new company Green Theme Technologies (GTT) continuously refined and patented this new innovation.

Fast forward four years to the winter Outdoor Retailer (OR) show. Selwyn’s thermal, dry finishing technology is now producing high quality, finished fabric swatches. Selwyn meets up with Martin Flora at the OR show and Martin introduces him to Ryan Chen, who has a small textile operation in Taiwan. There, the three planned the emergence of , a combined East/West company that works together with GTT to bring newly-named “AquaVent” technology to market as an environmentally responsible PFC-free and water-free finishing technology.

Extraordinary Performance Test Results

Selwyn’s initial goal was for AquaVent to withstand 50 machine wash cycles and still repel water under the industry standard AATCC 22 Spray Test. He was thrilled when it far surpassed that goal. “It achieved 100 washes with a spray rating of 100, and this was unheard of,” Selwyn said. Essentially, AquaVent proved immune to laundry as well as wear and tear.

The AATCC 22 Spray Test resembles the gentle watering of flowers from a garden bucket for 30 seconds. Since this is unlike actual rain, it provides an unrealistic test of water repellency performance. Undoubtedly, the best rain simulation is the Bundesmann Water Repellency Test, where water hits the fabric with a force roughly five times that of a cloudburst, simulating wind-driven rain. Added to this are moving rotors to simulate wear. In total, it is estimated to be 200 to 1,000 times tougher than the AATCC spray test.

Where the AquaVent technology really proves its mettle is with the Bundesmann Test. In this test, a number of key metrics are collected including the rating of visual repellency (from 1 = fully wetted to 5 = perfect), the percentage of absorbed water and the amount of water penetration through the fabric. Traditional finishing generally scores well under 2 with many that fail in the first one minute of the ten-minute test. AquaVent fabrics score over 4. In the real world, this is the difference between a jacket wetting out and feeling damp after six months of use, and one that continues to bead water like new indefinitely.

Water-Free Is the Magic Bullet

The secret behind such performance is the AquaVent dry-finish process. While virtually all other textile companies use wet-finishing, the AquaVent technology is an entirely new, water-free platform technology. It uses high-pressure gas to push the chemistry into the fabric and then thermally polymerizes the chemistry fusing the polymer with the fabric’s fibers on a molecular level. This strong bond means the finish is baked into the garment and won’t wear off or wash out. “You’re no longer just coating the fabric,” Selwyn said. “You’re overcoming factors like surface tension and the compressive nature of the knit and you’re able to get that penetration (deeply) into the fabric.”

What’s more, because the process behind his breakthrough dry finish technology doesn’t use water, it could clean up the textile industry, the second largest user and polluter of water globally (behind oil). The process is so groundbreaking and disruptive, even its inventor is watching its potential unfold. “I think we’ll be learning about it 50 years from now. We’re changing the way that textiles are made.”

Selwyn has seen this kind of profound technological advance change an industry before, because of a switch from ‘wet’ to ‘dry’ technologies. “I came from the semiconductor industry. In the ’80s, that industry was water-based. They dipped electronics into acids but then they changed course and began using a plasma—dry based—process. This allowed for miniaturization and high-density circuits that now power laptops, cell phones and microwave ovens.”

Early Aquavent Adopters

The performance of Aquavent caught the eye of designers at Marmot, who partnered with Green Theme International to use the technology in its EVODry rainwear, part of the brand’s own push for more sustainable apparel. The collection hit REI stores in February 2018, and Marmot says its EVODry jackets will protect against heavy rains for 24 straight hours. Backpacker recognized the Eclipse Jacket as one of the year’s most innovative pieces of gear and Gear Junkie awarded it Best in Show at 2018 Outdoor Retailer Winter Market.

For spring 2019, Marmot has expanded its use of the Aquavent technology. (It will be on display at Outdoor Retailer Summer Market this month in Denver). “Even when you’re just out walking you still need your pants to perform if it starts to rain,” said Claire Gibson, Marmot’s sustainability manager. “Working with GTI and our mills, we were able to find fabrics we felt were very on-trend and have been able to elevate our sportswear category.” Marmot is also using the tech in some fleece pieces. “There’s some different performance features when you use it on knit fabrics, but it definitely does help for protection in the off chance that you encounter precipitation,” Gibson said.

Black Diamond is the latest brand to partner with GTI, and its light-and-fast Distance Wind Shell, slated for spring 2019 and also being unveiled at Outdoor Retailer, was designed around the needs of sponsored athlete Joe Grant, whose trail running feats include a series of mountain ascents. “The GTI technology allows Black Diamond to achieve long-lasting water protection from both external and internal sources, cutting dangerous evaporative heat loss through wind exposure, while maintaining the lightest weight possible,” said Trent Bush, vice president of apparel at Black Diamond Equipment.

Bush says he was eager to get the shell to market while also testing the fabrics for other applications, from apparel to tents. “While [Aquavent] is an important outcome of GTI’s patented process, it is not the only one, just the first,” he said. “From a product-creation perspective, this is a dream come true. We can now manipulate variable performance and possibly aesthetic parameters at a totally new level.”

You Can’t Pollute What You Don’t Use

What Bush alludes to as a wide-open technology for new products, Green Theme sees as the path to the future: the most differentiating thing about Aquavent wasn’t that it is PFC-free, but that it’s water-free. The zero hazardous discharge process was groundbreaking. Not just better, but revolutionary. It was a game-changer for the industry. That became the inspiration for Green Theme.

In fact, it’s been through testing with partner brands, like Marmot and Black Diamond, that the textile industry continues to discover more benefits of the new technology. For instance, the Aquavent treatment keeps clothes cleaner longer because the polymer finish is not oleophilic, as with some other PFC-free finishes. Also, bonding of the polymer to the fabric improves the life cycle of the garment by preventing pilling and toughening fibers to withstand more washes and wear. Better laundry durability means fewer chemicals are washed off.

“As a company, I think we’ve opened the door to what the future can look like. We don’t separate the mission of taking care of the planet from innovation,” said Green Theme’s Martin Flora.

Unlike a third of the PFC-free DWRs on the market, Green Theme’s dry process excludes the use of palm oil. Vegetable oils like palm and corn became a common substitute oil in the race to create PFC-free DWRs, since they had some natural repellency. However, they came with their own set of problems. On paper, palm oil sounds sustainable, but it has created economic incentive to mow down tropical rainforest that are home to endangered species, and plant palm tree farms. Plus, oils love mixing with other oils, resulting in an oleophilic finish.

Because the AquaVent technology uses a sealed chamber pressurized by gases there is no waste stream. Another advantage is the process allows for a cocktail of fabric treatments at once, so odor-resistant or flame-retardant qualities can be added without taking the fabric through an additional chemical bath.

Eliminating PFCs, avoiding palm oil, and reducing chemicals are all big steps in terms of sustainability, but the largest impact could come from Green Theme’s water-free process.

For apparel brands and textile manufacturers, this may be an “adapt or die” moment. Textile production is a dirty business: textile companies use roughly half of the world’s chemicals and generate one-fifth of the world’s industrial water pollution, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council. Most textile mills are in countries with poor pollution treatment and they often face a critical shortage of fresh water. Drought-stricken Sri Lanka, India, and major cities in China are already calculating a Day Zero of access to clean water. Wet-finish mills have operated for more than a century but are increasingly unsustainable.

“If you look at a lot of the mills, they know they need to clean up, but they’re still holding onto the wet-finish process, which uses chemicals and lots of water, both of which are expensive,” said Green Theme’s Brian LaPlante. “Our sell is that adopting the dry-finish process will save [mills] money in the long run because they will use less. Margins have a way of changing mindsets.”

Next Steps

Green Theme Technologies and Green Theme International are in the process of merging together and joining forces to deliver new technologies and innovations in water-free finishing of textiles, not just for performance outdoor wear, but also for fashion apparel, footwear, automotive textiles, military applications, marine and home-based textiles. That “soup” that Selwyn started in his kitchen several years ago will continue cooking for some time and has the aid of multiple, visionary-minded teammates.

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