Outdoor Retailer: Icebreaker Preview

(One of the graphics made by local Portland artist that’ll grace Icebreaker t-shirts in spring 2013)

Icebreaker, one of the industry’s seminal merino wool companies, will continue to do what they do best in 2013: making some of the best active and travel wear on the market.  They’re working with Portland-based artists for their spring 2013 releases, introducing some cool graphic t-shirts for their lightweight 150-gram fabrics.  They will also introduce a new fabric weight. Dubbed Featherweight, it’ll be the thinnest merino yet at 120g, with 10 percent nylon woven in to add some durability; wool loses much of its tensile strength at that level of thinness.

This hybrid approach (adding different fabrics into their wool wheelhouse) carries over into other product initiatives.  The Seaker travel short ($120) will be made of 30% cotton.  Little details—like a single belt loop made of reflective material—will appeal to fashion-conscious commuters. They’re also moving into soft shell jackets ($249) and vests ($199), each lined with Bodyfit merino to add the wool’s wicking, no-stink advantages to a weather-resistant outer ’s geared toward the outdoor athlete more than the traveler.

We’re curious to see if this shift from an all-merino focus into other fabrics will trigger new and exciting things for Icebreaker, or if it’ll push them away from what they do so well (read: merino wool) into more of a multipurpose brand.  We’ll be testing this stuff this fall and we’ll let you know.