Fall 2015 Preview: Next Year's Most Innovative Outerwear
Our scout hits the show floor and rounds up the coolest new outerwear hitting the market next year.
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Cold spots, begone: Columbia’s new patent-pending construction foregoes traditional seams and instead overlaps a blend of 900-fill down and synthetic insulation across the baffles to keep wearers way warm. $450, 1 lb. 8 oz.
Designed for fast/light ski touring, this hooded jacket features Gore-Tex’s new C-Knit technology, a three-layer fabric construction that’s lighter, softer, more breathable (and just as durable) than anything Gore has offered before. Companies such as Arc’teryx, Mammut, and The North Face are also using C-Knit in their new shells, but the Dynafit Yotei is lighter than most. It also features a removable mesh powder skirt and roomy chest pockets to hold climbing skins. $600; 13 oz.
Ternua is a Spanish mountaineering company that’s bringing some novel pieces to the U.S. One is the Loughor, which uses recycled down that’s collected from discarded apparel and bedding and sanitized for new life in outdoor gear. $255, 13 oz.
Cold, wet climates are like Kryptonite for goose down, so this hybrid puffy maintains its superpowers by placing Primaloft Gold synthetic insulation in the hood, shoulders, and hips (the precipitation-catching zones). Through the core, a 70/30 blend of DWR-treated down and Primaloft Gold provides compressible warmth. Available in men’s and women’s versions. $325; 1 lb. 3 oz.
Since all waterproof membranes trap in some heat and sweat when hikers are working hard on uphills, SD opted for a breathable windshell that’s reversible. Worn fleece-side-in, it insulates and repels light rain. Worn with the shell-side next to skin, it wicks sweat fast. Available in men’s and women’s versions. $179, 1 lb. 2 oz. (m’s)
Australia-based Project clothing company will make its U.S. debut with the Powder Jacket, which is lined with Celliant stretch fabric: minerals embedded into fibers’ core convert body heat into infrared energy (which is used in hospitals to promote circulation). The thinking: Better circulation means better temperature regulation while you’re hiking, snowshoeing or skiing. $299, weight unavailable
