Polartec Announces 2008 Award Winners
The best of the best that's coming your way soon honoured by the fleece giants...
Posted:
4 June 2008by
Jon
Every year the nice people at Polartec bosh out their
APEX Design Awards to manufacturers for the garments which
best use Polartec fabrics and the European winners for autumn 2008
have just been annnounced.
The awards are judged on the style, function and fit of the
garment along with the most innovative and appropriate uses of
Polartec fabrics in the designs.
Some of the winners you'll not have heard of - the Latvia Logistic
Command of National Armed Forces for example - but at least six of
the garments honoured should be available in the UK from late summer
onwards...
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Sprayway Energy Half Zip - £100
One of the first Sprayway designs from erstwhile Montane
design supremo and OM member Julie Greengrass, the Energy
Half Zip is a slim, stylish pullover using recycled
Polartec® Thermal Pro® fabric with a grid pattern
back to trap body heat without adding extra bulk to the
jacket. It's all about technical clothing that also looks
great.
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Lowe Alpine Nordic - 129 Euros
Lowe Alpine's clothing is now designed in Italy and they
do stylish as well as you might expect. The Nordic
Jacket is an ultra light fleece for women that can be
worn as a mid or outer layer and is made from Polartec®
Thermal Pro®. The hem and cuffs however are made from
wool to give a distinctive, stylish look. Hopefully
available in colours other than powder blue...
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Mountain Equipment Women's Moonlite Guide Jacket -
£120
Another one for the gurlz, but this time coming right out
of Hyde, Manchester from technical mountain specialists ME.
The Women's Moonlite Guide Jacket is made from
Polartec's excellent Power Shield fabric but with a deep
pile inner to give added insulation along with the
protection of the membrane-based face.
Power Stretch under the arms adds mobility and reduces
weight. Should be great for female winter climbers and
skiers when the going gets gnarly.
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Haglofs Reptile Hood - 150 Euros
Haglofs seems to be going from strength to strength and
they've produced some excellent, beautifully cut soft shells
recently. The Reptile Hood looks like continuing the
trend. It's made from Polartec® Power Shield® fabric
with a microfleece grid inner to provided more insulation
without piling on the grammes.
There's a hood too - hurrah - with a full zipper and a
foam-reinforced peak so you don't have to reach for a hard
shell when it starts snowing. Looks good.
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Haglofs Treble Q Hood - 130 Euros
And Haglofs does the double thanks to the new Treble Q
Hood which is effectively a replacement for the late,
lamented Triton Jacket which we're still using regularly.
The new version - which we've seen in the fabric - uses
Polartec Classic Micro fleece along with Polartech
Powerstretch panels for better mobility and fit. And as you
can see, it also has a hood for noggin insulation.
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Millet Super Touring - 249 Euros
French specialists Millet are another company building a
reputation for really nice soft shell - not entirely
coincidentally, the concept works really well in alpine
environements - and their latest creation is the Super
Touring, another Power Shield jacket with a full
mountain hood and, it says here, a technical, innovative
design.
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And one we won't be getting...
This rather fetching little number also comes from
France, this time Lafuma is the brand. The Bufandaflor
Caban by Agatha Ruiz de la Prada is a three-quarter
length jacket using Polartec WindPro fleece and includes a
tall collar, wide turnback cuffs and, erm, an integrated
flower scarf, which is the bit we like most...
Ideal for serious ice fall climbing we reckon.
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More about Polartec fabrics at
www.polartec.com
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