The best new fleece jacket is made from real wool, not plastic

Fleece jackets and hoodies have develop into a staple of our fall and winter wardrobes, popularized by out of doors manufacturers like Patagonia. These cozy, fuzzy layers are designed to really feel gentle and wooly to the contact. However only a few fleece hoodies are literally produced from wool. The overwhelming majority are produced from plastic fibers, like polyester.

Caroline Priebe, a sustainable designer, needs to make a greater fleece. She’s simply launched an organization referred to as Driftless Goods that makes hoodies from regenerative merino wool sourced from American farmers. At $275, Driftless hoodies are roughly double the price of Patagonia’s, however Priebe believes that there are sustainably minded shoppers who’re anticipating clothes that aren’t actively polluting the planet. The hoodies are at present obtainable for preorder and can ship within the fall.

Priebe has spent 20 years serving to manufacturers and retailers develop into extra sustainable by means of her firm, the Middle for the Development of Garment Manufacturing. She’s helped everybody from Goal to Fila develop extra round approaches to their clothes provide chains.

As she surveyed the market, she discovered herself trying to find a fleece jacket that was really product of, effectively, fleece. As a designer, she beloved the feel and hand really feel of wool. She was additionally involved concerning the rising menace of microplastics within the atmosphere. An estimated 60% of all clothing at this time is produced from artificial materials, like polyester, nylon, and acrylic.

We now know that artificial clothes shed tiny particles of plastic, significantly once we wash them. These particles find yourself within the water stream, the place marine animals swallow them, they usually find yourself within the human meals chain. Scientists have discovered that mice who consume microplastics experience inflammation, disturbances to their metabolic systems, and neurotoxicity, amongst different unfavourable well being results. “It’s nonetheless unclear what impression this has on human our bodies, however it doesn’t look good,” says Priebe. “And as a mom of a small daughter, I actually fear about how microplastics would possibly set off endocrine disruption or fertility issues.”

Priebe determined to design and manufacture her personal fleece, produced from American-grown, regenerative wool. As she set out, she was related to Jeanne Carver, an Oregon-based rancher who has received industry awards for her ethical farming practices. Priebe sourced her wool from Carver’s farm, the Shaniko Wool Company, which has been working repeatedly for 152 years. The farm produces wool utilizing regenerative practices, such as abstaining from tilling the soil, which releases carbon into the atmosphere, and managing where sheep graze, to ensure that grasses aren’t depleted.

To create a fleece, Priebe wanted wool that has a excessive pile, which creates that plush, fluffy texture. Nevertheless, she found that it’s laborious to chop and stitch this type of wool cloth. Artificial fleece will be manufactured in such a manner that it’s even and simple sew; it is usually doable to spray the material with chemical compounds that makes it extra steady. So Priebe needed to invent a completely new course of to make the wool simpler to stitch into clothes. “I developed a mechanical course of that stabilizes the wool, with out utilizing any chemical compounds in any respect,” she says. “What you get is a pure wool garment, with out plastic or chemical compounds.”

Wool has many efficiency qualities, together with that it’s naturally moisture-wicking and anti-odor. However, Priebe has kept away from treating the jacket with chemical compounds that can make it water resistant, which is what many different out of doors manufacturers do.

Priebe will manufacture these jackets within the New York garment district. Nevertheless it’s expensive to launch a sustainable vogue enterprise, so she’s funding this new enterprise due to preorders, very similar to a Kickstarter marketing campaign. The primary run of merchandise might be obtainable within the fall. However after that, Priebe believes there are a lot of different out of doors merchandise that may be redesigned in order that they’re produced from extra eco-friendly supplies. She’s already serious about jackets and base layers. “All of those merchandise are designed to have an extended life, however once they’re achieved, you may relaxation straightforward figuring out that they are going to merely decompose and fertilize the soil,” says Priebe. “The objective is to do that throughout many several types of clothes we use on a regular basis.”