Outdoor Market - Looking Back to Move Forward

By Kathlyn Swantko

The major outdoor brands are struggling and discovering that having a recognizable name only gets them so far. The recent practice of designing duplicate products for different markets has also tended to confuse consumers. David Parkes, president of Concept III Textiles, offers a possible solution and a way the outdoor textile industry can help their brand partners.

“The textile side of the outdoor industry needs to better define itself in order to support its brand partners,” notes Parkes. “The crossover business from sports textiles into street/urban wear has been happening for several years, and currently this sector is doing well. On the other hand, the outdoor brands continue to look for a winning strategy to recoup their standing with consumers. To achieve this, I believe the outdoor textile industry needs to work closer with their brand partners, like we did 20 years ago. By utilizing new innovative fiber developments and creative marketing opportunities, I believe we can revitalize the outdoor market.”

Matt Powell, VP of sports/leisure trends at NPD Group, agrees with Parkes regarding the creative problems facing the major brands, and points to the success that private label designers are having in developing more innovative products.

Powell says to look at private label in performance sports which is growing by double digits with unique clothing created using innovative premium fabrics. “The market doesn’t need more programs that must be promoted in order to sell,” explains Powell. “The traditional brands are doing plenty of that!”

The FabricLink Network reviews several products that provide the new innovative fiber and fabric developments needed to revitalize the outdoor market.

HeiQ Fresh offers odor-control performance, providing
effective odor-control with less or no silver.

HeiQ creates some of the most innovative, durable and high-performance textile effects/finishes for today’s market. The company offers a variety of finishing qualities from a range of finishing products that include the following: HeiQ Fresh - odor control with less or no silver; HeiQ No Fuzz - anti-pilling abrasion-resistance with reduced fuzzing/pilling; HeiQ Real Silk - short fiber-finishing that transfers silk characteristics and the luxurious feel of silk to other fabrics (i.e. polyamide/polyester/cotton/cotton blends); HeiQ Smart Temp - thermoregulation triggered by body-heat, keeping the body cool/comfortable; HeiQ Eco Dry - eco-friendly/durable water-repellant (DWR), provides protection against water/water-based stains; HeiQ Glide - providing friction-free movement; HeiQ Sun Block - stopping harmful UVA/UVB rays by absorbing/reflecting rays before reaching the skin; HeiQ Bug Guard - providing effective/durable technology repelling mosquitoes/vectors insect; HeiQ Clean Tech - eco-friendly technology offering time/water/energy savings of 30%-40%; and HeiQ XReflex - warmth with half the insulation.

Monterey Mills featured several of its sliver knit apparel fabrics. The company’s knit pile products as described as ‘fabrics made from fiber’, because of the unique sliver knitting. Monterey Mills’ sliver knitting process locks individual fibers directly into a lightweight knit backing to form a soft pile on the face of the fabric, making comfortable pile fabrics that are soft, warm, durable, and resilient, compared to pile fabrics made from yarn.

At ORSM’19, Monterey Mills showcased 100% wool shearling fabrics with different blend levels and different pile heights; its Casalana poly/wool/acrylic fabric in a variety of solid colors and patterns; its tumbled Burbur line with wool, made from a blend of poly/wool/acrylic; its 70% acrylic/30% wool sweater fleece in solids and patterns; its FR rated Sherpa fabric; and its 4-way stretch Sherpa.

Align Textile Company displayed its new knitted SeaWool® fabrics, made from SeaWool® fiber. The new advancements from the Hans Global partner companies, which include Align Textile Company and Creative Tech, are now turning a byproduct of the food industry that previously ended up in landfills, into innovative technical fibers/yarns, fabrics, and insulation for the outdoor apparel market.

The SeaWool® fiber is made from a combination of discarded oyster shells and post-consumer recycled PET bottles. The oyster shells are ground down to a powder, which is then mixed with the recycled PET pellets. SeaWool® is not only a great recycling solution, but the resulting materials have the natural benefits similar to wool, offering anti-static, wrinkle-resistant, antibacterial, odor-blocking, insulating warmth, along with softness next to the skin.

Eastman’s AVRA® performance activewear.

Eastman presented its innovative Avra performance polyester fiber, used to create a wicking, quick-drying, comfortable, drapeable fabric that provides quality coolness that can be felt by the wearer. Utilizing no additional chemistry, Eastman’s Avra is made with smaller, flatter shaped fibers that are more flexible, and can be made into fabrics that are softer to the touch, compared to typical polyester fibers. Avra achieves the softness of cotton and the performance of a synthetic, offering no cling and no chafing qualities. The lightness, flexibility, and breathability that Avra provides performance that the wearer can feel.

Avra’s ultra-thin polyester fibers are extruded and held together by a proprietary removable polymer. These bicomponent fibers can be knit or woven into fabrics on convenient equipment. Once the fabric is made, Eastman’s removable polymer completely washes away in hot water, resulting in ribbon-like fibers that are smaller than traditional polyester fibers. The result is a silky fabric that keeps the wearer dry.