Textile Insight

IN THE STUDIO | ACTIVEWEAR High Value, Minimal Footprint 34 • Textile Insight ~ May/June 2019 textileinsight.com Fresh Takes on Function Developed & Designed for Active Pursuits. By Emily Walzer ecent research confirms the con- sumer trend of buying fewer, but better quality items. According to our research*, 90 percent of survey respon- dents believed in a "less is more" buying ethos. Here we highlight goods that reflect this trend with fresh takes on functionality that hit the mark in terms of performance, versatility and aesthetic appeal – in other words, contem- porary "quality" for every day active lifestyle. Appalachian Gear Company Nature developed Alpaca fiber, but the owners of Appalachian Gear Company developed how to put it in lightweight form for products designed for the trail and made in the U.S. "Enough people said it couldn't be done so that just pushed us to think, let's get over this major barrier and then we kept crashing more barriers," says John Gage, a co-founder of the Charlotte, NC-based firm. Alpaca yarn is shipped from Peru, then knit, cut and sewn in plants located in North Carolina. While that sounds like straightforward textile development, the actual process to produce a lightweight 100 percent Alpaca fiber fabric with no harsh chemical processing and no synthetic fibers blended into it was no easy task. This type of fabric had never been produced successfully for high performance outdoor wear. Consider that Alpaca would run on a standard circular knit machine only for a minute before the yarn would fly apart. It took three years of development and customiza- tion at every turn — from the fiber and yarn specs to the machinery set up to the finishing — to create the company's branded All-Paca fabric for clothing, scarves and hats. "It was like building Frankenstein," recalls Gage, an experienced backpacker, and like his business partner Mike Hawkins, a veteran of the textile industry. The "Eureka moment" came when the execs got the yarn to run four minutes without blowing apart. "Then we knew it could be done," explains Gage, adding, "Once we got it knitted it still took a crazy amount of time." The eventual result, however, surpassed expectations. "People are looking for something different, and want a quality product that is multi-purpose. With All-Paca you sleep in it, hike in it, and then wear it into town," concludes Gage, who has logged over 1,000 miles on the Appalachian Trail and spent over 25 years in textile manufacturing. Alpaca fiber is inherently water resistant, explains Gage. "Generally, Alpaca has a moisture regain of eight to 12 percent, whereas merino wool can have a moisture regain of up to 30 percent," he says. "People find that when wearing our Hoodies, Beanies, and Buffs in cold weather activities such as skiing, ice climbing, and backpacking, that our All-Paca Fleece products will not 'wet-out' with snow, and even though the snow remains on the outside of the fabric, the snow does not melt and wick to the inside of the fabric. Further, because the All-Paca fabric breathes so well, the exterior accumulation of snow does not have a negative affect on warmth or breathability." It's all about moisture evaporation. Says Gage, "Personal climate control is allowing perspiration moisture to move away from your body. In summer, moisture makes you hotter if it isn't allowed to evaporate, and in the winter moisture makes you colder if it isn't allowed to evaporate." Gage adds, "When it is hot outside the All-Paca shirt gets the job done. It feels like an air conditioner." A design feature of note is the Trail Seam. Because a seam is a natural weak spot, the company minimizes the number of seams used on All-Paca garments. Garments are put together with a good stitch and then done again, to achieve double sewn seams that offer toughness and durability. "We want the fabric to wear out before the seam does," says Gage. l R *Trend Insight Consumer Survey, March/April 2019 Textile Insight All-Paca mens and women's t-shirts are versatile for on or off the trail.

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