Men’s Mackinaw Cruiser Jacket (1922)
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Filson
Men’s Mackinaw Cruiser Jacket (1922)
It was 1912, and C.C. Filson was operating a Seattle, Washington store—Filson’s Pioneer Alaska and Blanket Manufacturers—opened in 1897 in order to supply hordes of prospectors headed to the Yukon Gold Rush.
As the Gold Rush died down, Filson found that there were many more customers in need of rugged outdoor clothing and gear. So he designed a shirt that would meet the current and unforeseen needs of his customers. He applied for a patent in 1912 based on a shirt design that contained many unique and innovative features—all of them based on simplicity and functionality in the outdoors.
Filson was awarded a patent for his Cruiser Shirt design in 1914. Originally made in Tin Cloth and Mackinaw Wool, the shirt soon evolved in both fabric and functional design throughout the years in order to serve the needs of timber cruisers, dam builders and miners—the men and women shaping the future of the Pacific Northwest through muscle and sheer force of will.
Woolrich
Men’s ‘503’ Hunting Coat & Pants The Pennsylvania Tuxedo (1930)
Woolrich & Company was founded in 1830 in what would become Woolrich, Pennsylvania. It has produced woolen goods for over 175 years, including the heavy weight red and black plaid fabric, known by Woolrich as the "classic" hunting plaid, famously worn by Sid Caesar (known for his sharp wits and fashion).
Red has been used since the 19th century for hunting jackets, and plaid is also synonymous with outdoors wear. The wool field coat and pants have been produced by Woolrich for most of its years in business, and are executed with the warmth and comfort of the hunter in mind. Besides the inherent warmth of the wool and its ability to wick away moisture, both pieces are outfitted with special details, like the "storm flap" which covers the button closure on the coat and protects the wearer from the elements seeping in between the holes, as well as the neck tab which keeps the collar up to warm the neck and face.
The double seat and knees of the pants provides the extra support required for the sport, and the knit bands at the hem are a custom touch, allowing for boots to be comfortably worn over the pants. The coordinating plaid coat and pants, coined the "Pennsylvania tuxedo" by Woolrich, while being completely functional, is also rather fashionable.
Eddie Bauer
Skyliner Jacket (1940)
Introduced in 1936 as the “Blizzard Proof Jacket,” the Skyliner was patented in 1940 and became the first down jacket to be patented in the U.S. This groundbreaking jacket was developed by the brands eponymous founder after suffering hypothermia on a winter fishing trip—quickly establishing the Eddie Bauer name as a dynamo among outerwear companies.
The Skyliner was sold continuously for more than 50 years and remained virtually unchanged save for the collar which was sometimes knit or otherwise self-fabric point—with early catalogs giving customers a choice between the two.
Two other early attributes that were later dropped were snaps at the back of the neck to attach an optional, down-insulated hood; and a zipper along the bottom of the hem. This allowed the addition of an optional, 8-inch down-insulated extension that converted the waist-length Skyliner into a parka.
Sierra Designs
60-40 Mountain Parka (1968)
George R. Marks was co-founder of Sierra Designs in 1965 along with Bob Swanson, (1933-2016), and later of The Walrus Tent Company. With a career spanning five decades, Bob was known as the greatest innovator and contributor of outdoor products to the industry. With his passing in August of 2016, he shall be remembered for his abundant legacy among which is the Sierra Designs 60/40 Mountain Parka.
For the first six months they worked like endlessly, developing one product after the other. This included a full line of sleeping bags, tents, packs, garments and a range of small accessories. The first mountain parka, made with Reevair fabric, was one for wind and rain as suggested by The North Face who was the company’s first retail client. The 60/40 came to be after Bob ordered new fabrics from the Arthur Kahn Company – rounding the composition of the cotton/nylon blend to 60/40.
Banana Equipment
Banana Equipment Parka with GORE-TEX® Fabric (1977)
Early, first generation Banana Equipment size large Gore-Tex® parka. The jacket is constructed of a dark green Taslanized nylon Gore-Tex® 3-layer laminate with a partial bright green taffeta interior drop lining in the hood and sides
The now defunct Banana Equipment out of Estes Park, Colorado was one of the earliest adopters of GORE-TEX® Fabrics after the material hit the market in 1976. With their pun of a tagline, “Products with A Peel,” Banana Equipment was a small, yet prolific, company that specialized in shell garments. Like other small early adopters, Banana Equipment devoted a significant amount of space in their catalogs to describing the science behind GORE-TEX® Laminates, as a way to educate their consumers and illustrate how this new material could claim to offer “the contradicting features of waterproofness and breathability,” actually citing a scientific paper produced by Gore.
Marmot
Men’s Golden Mantle Jacket (1978)
In 1978, Marmot introduced the Golden Mantle jacket—it’s first jacket to feature Gore-Tex.
Marmot co-founder, Eric Reynolds met Joe Tanner of W.L. Gore & Assoc., Inc. in Elkton, Maryland in 1976. Eric was one of the first in the US to see a new concept in outdoor performance fabrication: Gore-Tex. He was intrigued and, within a couple weeks, had sewn prototype sleeping bags in the new Gore-Tex fabric for field testing. He and co-founder Dave Huntley proceeded to spend the next seven nights in a commercial frozen meat locker comparing bags with and without the Gore-Tex fabric. Then they tested the bags sleeping under fire sprinklers. They liked what they saw. They ordered another 100 yards of fabric and were in business selling Gore-Tex fabric bags.
The Marmot team immediately changed everything in the line to Gore-Tex fabrications, including the down garments and all the sleeping bags. Marmot designed the first Gore-Tex Bivy sack. Marmot designed a Gore-Tex, single fabric layer, mountaineering tent: the Taku. Marmot is the oldest customer of Gore in the world outdoor market.
Carhartt
Brown Duck Arctic Coat
Founded in 1889 during the boom of steel, steam and locomotive industries, Hamilton Carhartt & Company started as the namesake of its owner, “Ham,” who produced overalls with two sewing machines and a half-horsepower electric motor in a small Detroit loft. Early failures led Hamilton to focus heavily on market research, and after talking directly with railroad workers, he designed a product that truly fit their needs. Under the motto, “Honest value for an honest dollar,” the Carhartt bib overall was created and rapidly evolved into the standard for quality workwear. Fast forward to the 1970s, massive orders for the construction of the Alaska Pipeline helped grow the brand, and Carhartt undeniably showed that its products could survive and thrive in the most rugged conditions on Earth.
The Carhartt brand became popular with consumers outside blue-collar trades during the 1970s and 1980s. More people began to learn about the brand as big names in the hip-hop music industry started to wear Carhartt. Interest expanded across the pond in Europe, leading to the creation of the Carhartt Work In Progress label in 1989, which is targeted toward consumers in Europe and Asia who value refined details and design that remains true to Carhartt’s brand DNA.
Over the past 15 years, Carhartt has produced more than 80 million garments and accessories in the U.S. The company also sources heavily from U.S. suppliers such as Mt. Vernon Mills in Georgia (fabric) and YKK Snap USA in Kentucky (snaps and buttons), among others.
CB Sports
Extended Length Ski Jacket
CB Sports was launched in 1969 by former world downhill record holder C.B. Vaughan Jr. after selling his first pair of ski “Super Pants” from his car—significantly changing the outerwear industry. Renowned for bringing color to the mountain, CB Sports became a multi-million dollar sports apparel company reigning as one of America’s leading ski apparel and outdoor brands for 30 years.
In 2010, the CB Sports brand was re-launched by Yellowstone Brands.
Columbia
Bugaboo™ Parka (1988)
The first Bugaboo™ parka launched in 1986. The 3-in-1 interchange jacket revolutionized the way alpine skiers dressed and is the garment that put Columbia on the map. The jacket features a zip-in fleece liner and an outer shell that can be worn together or separately. Since its launch in 1986, over 5 million Bugaboo™ parkas have been sold and it is still available today. When the Bugaboo™ parka was first released, it retailed for $89.99 and is sold today for $200.
LL Bean
Mount Everest Peace Climb Jacket and Pant (1990)
In 1990 Leon Gorman, former L.L. Bean president and Chairman of the Board, traded in the brand’s signature Maine Hunting Boot for apparel more appropriate for a trek ascending Mount Everest—Earth’s highest mountain—in an effort to promote world peace. Led by Jim Whittaker, who in 1963 became the first American to climb Everest, over 30 climbers (including Gorman) were outfitted with prototype jackets and pants for the Mount Everest Peace Climb.
Rab®
Glacier Jacket (1991)
Introduced circa 1991 and handmade in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, this Glacier jacket is based on one of Rab Carrington’s original designs—using ethically sourced European goose and duck down that is Responsible Down Standard-certified.
A brand created out of necessity, Rab was developed shortly after founder Rab Carrington learned how to stitch sleeping bags by hand due to a dock strike that prevented his climbing equipment from being shipped to Argentina. Upon his return to the UK, Rab began hand stitching and selling his own sleeping bags from the attic of his house—eventually opening a production factory in Sheffield.
Known as “The Mountain People” and by its company ethos, “By climbers for climbers” Rab is now operated by Equip Outdoor Technologies, Ltd.
Patagonia
Patagonia Synchilla Fleece Jacket—100% recycled polyester (1993)
From Bottles to Fiber to Fabric to Clothes
In 1993, Patagonia was the first outdoor clothing manufacturer to adopt recycled fleece into its product line. At a time when over 9 billion plastic bottles were produced annually in the U.S. alone—of which approximately two-thirds ended up in landfills—Patagonia diverted over 54 million plastic bottles from landfills and saved over 600,000 gallons of petroleum.
Arc’teryx
Alpha SV (1998)
In the late 1990s, Arc’teryx pioneered the Alpha SV jacket, an iconic garment repeatedly proven to withstand the most sever alpine environments. Crafted with waterproof, breathable and lightweight Gore-Tex Pro fabric since it’s inception, the Alpha SV has evolved to be more lightweight (reduced from 708g to 490g) and is now includes Arc’teryx’s very own WaterTight™ zippers with laminated components, narrow seam tape to eliminate zipper garage.
Isis / Juno
Women’s Valkyrie Ski Jacket & Pants (1999)
The idea for the first U.S. women-specific outdoor apparel brand was born on a ski lift in Vermont in 1998—the brainchild of co-founders Poppy Gall and Carolyn Cooke. The first collection was introduced in January 1999 under the brand name Juno. Shortly thereafter the brand received a cease and desist order for use of the name. Juno product was shipped for only one season before the name changed to Isis for Women.
The most significant and compelling story about Isis products was the attention given to detail in regard to female fit and features. Women were the first and only thought while designing and developing product. The physical and emotional needs of women were addressed at every phase of design, development and marketing.
Isis for Women, a woman owned and run business, raised the bar for women’s expectations of outdoor gear, changed the way big brands thought about women’s product design, and inspired the founding of many other women-specific brands.