Team Saxo Bank-SunGard just approved a wind shell from Sportful that many cyclists can appreciate. The jacket is lightweight and compresses into a pack that fits in the palm of your hand so you can easily tote it along on your ride in case of rain, wind, or chill. The jacket is designed to provide front wind protection, breathability, and a moderate degree of water protection, but in the absolute minimal package. Continue reading When There’s a Chill in the Air, Hot Pack
Tag: Apparel
Fitness Clothing Market to Reach $126.30 billion by 2015
According to a new report by Global Industry Analysts, Inc., the global market for sports and fitness clothing will increase to $126.30 billion by 2015, driving in part by sales in the burgeoning Asian market, as well as the evolving markets in Latin America, Africa and surprisingly even the Middle East.
The United States currently is the world’s single largest market for sports and fitness clothing, with Europe and Asia-Pacific following. The aging-but-active population in these regions will see continued growth, especially as women remain a highly lucrative target audience.
We at KineticShift hope that this increase as a market means that we’ll continue to see innovative products that help encourage people to work out, while offering fitness benefits as well. Clothing maybe fashion, but fitness shouldn’t have to be fashionable.
Lighten the Load – Starting With the Shoes
It is a New Year and if you’re thinking about a “New You,” Lady Foot Locker is there to help. Getting fit can mean getting lighter, and now the shoe retailer is helping runners on their way with an effort to provide lightweight running shoes. These are among the most technical shoes and the market, and include a range of products from Nike, Asics and even Reebok. Lady Foot Locker has even launched an online campaign built entirely around the concept of “Lightweight Running,” with a great selection of shoes and beyond.
Pushing the Extremes From the Base Layer
There is no denying it, but we’ll keep saying it, winter is coming and that means cold weather. There are a few options, including setting up camp in doors until the spring thaw or taking your base to new extremes. Craft Apparel will let you go for the second option with its line of Zero and Zero Extreme Windstopper garments that provide full wind protection, while still offering maximum breathability. These include lightweight and elastic wind protection with strategically positioned panels to keep the cold air from blowing through you.
The collection include tops, bottoms and accessories and each is soft with close fit. The Pro Zero further stays in contact with your body, to pull away excess moisture. This is a key to staying warm – if you start to cool down the wind chill can make that sweat feel like you’ve splash with icy water. The Pro Cool outer fabric further allows air to circulate around your body to promote moisture expulsion while also keeping you from getting too heat up during a workout. Antimicrobial treatment is also included to keep the garments smelling fresh and to keep that “gym” odor from setting in. This will help you push your training to new extremes even in extreme weather.
Gore(Tex) in 2011
We heard that Gore-Tex will roll out a new fabric that the company says will be the most breathable waterproof material yet. The new Gore-Tex Active Shell won’t actually make it to shops until about a year from now, but it should prove to be the wait.
This new technological breakthrough in fabric shouldn’t be confused with the already on the market “Windstopper Active Shell” either. The Gore-Tex Active Shell will do much the same, but dare we say even better. According to reports it will provide a combination of lightness and breathability so it can function as a shell for cyclists and runners alike, and thus can be used in more “minimalist” garments. Additionally it will be ultra-lightweight enough that it will be good for climbers and hikers where every ounce counts. The key to getting the weight down required Gore to change the very construction, thus limiting the thickness of the layers and more importantly reducing the amount of glue used in the process.
Now the only thing to do is get through the next nine to 10 months and then try it out. We’ll keep you posted.
Interbike 2010: Looking Mod and Stylish While Helping the Planet
Looking good and doing so while wearing recycled water bottles isn’t really a stretch, and you don’t even have to be Lady Gaga to pull it off. Modrobes makes it easy as the company is set to launch a new line of urban cycling apparel made from recycled water bottles.
Toronto designer Steven Sal Debus spent five years cycling in some truly lovely locales including Amsterdam, Zurich, Portland, Vancouver and New York. He hit upon the idea to create a “new school” of cycling attire, and came up with an idea to use a product that typically is used once and discarded. The result is a line of products that looks good, feels good and is also good for the planet. Continue reading Interbike 2010: Looking Mod and Stylish While Helping the Planet
New Performance Fabrics Processed with Plasma
It’s the gas in your TV. And now it’s the gas that created the surface of your clothes. Plasma is a gas created by applying electrical fields to pure gas or gas mixtures in a vacuum chamber. A Swiss company called Eschler is using plasma to cause systematic surface modifications to fabrics. Translation: A process that creates water-resistant, water-absorbing and dirt-repellent fabrics through the use of electricity and an ionic gas rather than the use of chemicals or excessive water. Plasma changes the surface of the fabric to grant these properties through particular textures whether they’re smooth or mottled. The process has traditionally been achieved through the use of wet processing with chemicals and lots and lots of water. The chemical process often makes the fabric too stiff, and wears away with repeated washing.
Continue reading New Performance Fabrics Processed with Plasma
Armani Goes to the Gym
Sometimes going to the gym is more about fashion than fitness. This is seen with partnerships with athletic gear companies and fashion designers like the one between Adidas and Stella McCartney. And now Emporio Armani and Reebok are ready to introduce the line from their joint partnership announced in January, Reebok x Emporio Armani. To be sold in Emporio Armani stores and on Reebok.com, a line of workout clothes and footwear will be available in August.
Track pants and hoodies are the mainstay of the line with stylized looks such as pants bunched at the bottom like a genie. Hoodies include a double-breasted structural piece, and a drapey zip-up out of performance fabrics.
Shoes mix black leather with the bubble cushioning seen in Reebok’s line.
Via: LA Times blog
Break the Ice on Wool
Wool is probably the last material you expect to wear while running or doing other exercise. All the new technical fibers, many made from old soda bottles, are known to wick sweat and keep you warm or cool, depending on their purpose. Many of those fibers mimic natural fibers such as wool. Now a company called Icebreaker features wool from New Zealand with just enough of the manmade stuff (lycra) to give you a snug fit and hold shape.
Icebreaker began as a base layer company, making thermal underwear and snug tops for layering made of wool. It’s still a strong part of the company’s business, but some of the new designs can take you from the office to the trail with style. The Amazon Scoop ($64.99), a women’s top that can easily be worn on the street, keep you warm on the plane, or wick sweat as you take your bike for a spin. Icebreaker outfits you from head to toe with foot specific wool socks for different sports.
If you’re curious about how your wool became an Amazon Scoop or other style, each garment comes with its own Baacode, which tracks back to the farm, or station, where it was raised. It doesn’t track to the specific sheep, but you get the flavor of the countryside.