Nau Hear This

Innovation in the world of outdoor apparel typically hinges on new fabric treatment, revolutionary seam-melding technologies, or the latest luxe fleece reinvention—in other words, advances that may get gear geeks rabid, but hardly ideas sexy enough to capture the collective imagination of the less hardcore.

And then there's Nau, a new company that has set itself apart from the already-crowded marketplace by offering something different—and that difference can be found in more than its products.

Best described as corporate philanthropy, Nau's sustainable, earth-friendly approach branches throughout its entire business plan, from creating post-recycled or entirely sustainable fabrics and materials and the apparel's svelte, no-logo designs to a direct-to-customer approach (selling product only at their stores or via their website) and donating 5 percent of all sales to one of ten charities. As their mission statement earnestly professes: "We're blending profitability and philanthropy, what we believe is the new measure of success."

But business-savvy altruism aside, how well do the clothes perform? We're happy to report that they're a revelation, successfully merging the tech achievements that define the outdoor apparel industry with some of the most gracefully simplistic, truly urbane designs on the market.

Here, we zone in on a few of our favorites.