We've just been up to see the guys at
Montane and get a
quick scoop preview of what's new from the brand for
spring-summer 2009,
as well as a top secret look at the autumn collection.
The spring '09 stuff is in the shops shortly, from about
February in fact, so
not long to wait...
Live Lite...
Montane's best known for its minimalist, lightweight,
performance kit, but the big news for this spring is a range called
'Live Lite'. It's a range of clothing that's founded on the principle
of treading lightly on the environment.
It's less purist than classic fast and light Montane kit, but that
means it's useable both for technical stuff and for more general
outdoor life. The clothing itself is made from materials which are both
recycled and recyclable and produced under the
Eco Circle badge by
Teijin Fibres.
Teijin takes stuff like seat-belts, work dungarees, erm nurses'
uniforms, carrier bags, bottle and so on and uses them to produce 100
per-cent recycled polyester fabrics, which in turn can be recycled
again. Not only does the process use less energy and produce less
emissions than producing virgin polyester, it also uses no oil or
petro-chemical by-products, which is what plastics are based on, which
has to be a good thing.
Finally, a percentage from the sales of the Live Lite range goes to
international conservation body,
The
World Land Trust, which buys up tropical forest, coral
reefs and other rate habitats and locks them down to conserve them. So
far it's bought up over 375,000 acres of such land.
All of which is excellent news, but what's the kit like?
Horizon / Future Jacket -
£70
The
Horizon
is the men's version and it's a rather nice-looking high-loft
lightweight fleece jacket with a knitted outer and a high loft brushed
inner face which feels absolutely lovely in a furry, fluffy way.
It's wind resistant too and has a great, slightly retro look to it. Oh,
and the pockets vent. The women's version - below - is called the
Future and, as is
the way with such things, is available in arguably nicer colours,
sulk...
Both versions have an RRP of
£70 and
weigh a claimed 460g for the men's version and 375g for the lasses.
Filament / Element
Windproof Jacket
Like the fleece, the lightweight men's Filament - below -
and women's Element wind jackets are made from 98 per-cent recycled
fabrics, in this case Pertex Qunatum Eco, which is one of the lightest
windproof fabrics out there.
At around 185 grammes for the men's and 170g for the women's, it's very
light and packs very small. It's not as minimalist as you might think
though with a roll-away, foam-peaked hood fitted and two map-sized
chest pockets plus an baffle behind the front zip and adjustable hem,
cuffs and hood.
Again, the materials used are 100 per-cent recyclable, so can go back
into the process and re-emerge as fabric once you're done with them.
Price is
£60
and the fit is more relaxed than with Montane's other windproof tops.
Sabretooth Jacket
The
Sabretooth isn't new, it's in the shops already, but we've included it
here because it looks bloody lovely and uses 82 per-cent recycled
Polartec Windpro, windproof fleece.
It has built-in stretch and uses Polartec's Hardface Technology for
durable abrasion resistance. Includes a low-bulk hood,
microfleece-lined handwarmer pockets and two map-sized vented, Napoleon
chest pockets.
And did we mention that it looks nice too? Apparently it's a big fave
of everyone who works at Montane as well...
Bag Pants and Bottle
Pants...
The
Bag Pants - men - and the women's Bottle Pants get their name from the
stuff they're made from originally, but feeling the cotton-like
polyester fabric, you'd never guess. The polyester is mixed with around
10 per-cent organic cotton.
Fit is relaxed in a jeans sort of way and the fabric feels really nice
against the skin. The print inside - below - actually reads 'wear,
enjoy and recycle'.
And predictably, or should that be 'arguably', the women's
version look really nice with contrast stitching details
standing out more obviously on the Ink coloured version below...
Both the Bottle and Bag Pants will sell for a RRP of
£65.
Infinity and Perpetual
Tee Shirts
Last but not least in the Live Lite range are these simple
high-wicking, 100 per-cent recycled polyester tee shirts, the Infinity
for boys and the Perpetual for the girls. Again the idea is that they
can be worn generally for everyday life, but the fabric gives them
enough technical ooomph for active sports use as well.
And yes, the Perpetual for the gurlz, below, has more of a cap-sleeve
design and different colours. Both versions will sell for
£25...
Tweaked...
The Women's Venture Jacket was introduced last autumn, but
gets an update for the spring. It's a lightweight, waterproof eVent
jacket cut specifically to work for women.
As of next month though, the Dermizax - really - reinforcement panels
on the shoulders and hips are 'heathered' which means not only are they
tough, but they also have a really neat and quite unusual look, which
makes them stand out.
Halo Jacket Updated
We've just
reviewed the Halo eVent
Stretch Jacket and broadly liked it, though we thought it could use
some shoulder reiniforcement. It's been tweaked for the spring though
with two major changes, one cosmetic and one functional.
First the external flaps over the front zip have gone so there's now
just a very technical-looking exposed water-resistant zip. The other
change is to the hood, which has been made significantly larger to give
as much facial protection as possible.
Thanks to our gorgeous, pouting model, Paul from Montane, for
demonstrating the new hood's capabilities - and for the coffee, the
scoff and his time.
Autumn / Winter 2009
Unfortunately we're not really allowed to tell you
anything about what's coming next winter, but we really like what we
did see and there are some interesting new additions to the range. More
in a month or two's time.
In the interrim, here's a jacket we just liked :o)
Metric Kate
