Fashion Tech: outdoor apparel

App-enabled outerwear, cutting-edge functional fabrics, bio-mimicry and more are part of the growing range of options in outdoor clothing. Here’s a look at some of the latest outdoor products exemplifying new tech trends.

1. Vollebak Solar Charged Jacket

Named by WIRED as Sports Gear of the Year in 2017, the Solar Charged Jacket is made from a highly responsive material that can be charged and made to glow in the dark by any light source. Whether you’re writing on it with your iPhone torch, drawing on it with a flashlight, charging it up underneath a lightbulb, or wearing it out in the sunshine, in the dark it glows “like kryptonite.”

2. Levi’s Commuter X Jacquard by Google

Levi Strauss has launched a smart jacket in partnership with Google, named Levi’s Commuter X Jacquard. The jacket can be paired with smartphones through its own app and allows the wearers to play music, answer phone calls, and even get directions. “With a literal brush of your cuff, you can navigate your life while living it.”

3. Columbia OutDry Extreme Eco Jacket

If you’re looking for a high-tech, sustainably produced outdoor jacket, with all the features of the highest quality sportswear, Columbia’s OutDry Extreme Eco Shell is the perfect fit. Each jacket repurposes more than twenty plastic bottles and gives them a new life in the form of a polyester shell.

The textile is made from 100% recycled polyester, trims are recycled contents and it is completely undyed. An attached adjustable storm hood adds to the protection and zipped pockets keep valuables secure.

4. North Face Moon Parka

Instead of using nylon, waxed cotton or twill, the Moon parka outdoor jacket is made from synthetic spider silk, produced by Spiber. The jacket is only available in Japan, where it will set you back a tidy US$1,000.

The adoption of spider silk in the apparel industry in general, and the outdoor clothing segment in particular, has gained a lot of traction thanks to the Bolt Thread company and its innovative projects, which are showcasing the vast potential the biotech-infused textiles have for the future of the fashion apparel industry.

Discover high-tech fashion and fabrics at Global Sources Fashion
Hong Kong’s largest fashion sourcing show offers industry buyers a chance to source the latest developments in design and textiles, with the Fashion Technology Zone and a wide range of high-tech functional fabrics among its wide selection of accessories, textiles and apparel. To attend the show for free on October 27–30, 2018, pre-register online now at https://bit.ly/2OnG1ZL.