Who is Polartec LLC?

We are the creators of Polartec® fabrics – the most advanced performance textiles available today. Polartec® started as the original synthetic fleece and now offers a collection of over 300 different fabrics designed to keep you warm, dry, and most importantly, comfortable in a variety of outdoor activities. Polartec® fabrics range from extremely lightweight base layer fabrics for long underwear and t-shirts to water repellent soft shells to flame resistant fabrics for the military. Think of Polartec® fabrics as the protection nature didn’t give you. They can keep you warm when it’s cold, keep you dry when you sweat, even repel wind, rain, and snow to protect you from the elements.

What are Polartec® Fabrics?

Polartec, LLC manufactures over 300 different fabrics under the brand Polartec®. Think of the brand as an umbrella for many categories of technical fabrics, such as Polartec® Power Dry®, Polartec® Power Stretch®, Polartec® Classic 100, 200 & 300, Polartec® Thermal Pro®, Polartec® Wind Pro®, Polartec® Windbloc®, and Polartec® Power Shield®. Each category represents a collection of fabrics of many different weights and textures, for many different activities and weather conditions.

What fabrics are available using recycled or renewable content?

Polartec, LLC sources yarn from many companies around the globe. Wherever possible, our company is committed to using renewable and recycled fibers provided by these vendors. The quality and variety of recycled-content yarns has improved dramatically in the past couple years enabling Polartec, LLC to offer over 20 recycled and renewable fabric styles today including recycled polyester, wool, and even corn-based PLA fleece.

Patagonia, LL Bean, REI and Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC) are some of our largest customers purchasing recycled fabrics. Patagonia offers a collection of Synchilla jackets and vests made of recycled content Polartec® fabrics and they also offer the Capilene 4 base layer collection made of 50% recycled content. Patagonia, through their Common Threads Garment Recycling Program, will now accept any garment ever made of Polartec® fabrics to be recycled back into yarn and then new garments. This is the first closed-loop garment recycling program and all Polartec® fabrics qualify.

What’s New – January 2008

Polartec, LLC is launching a broad range of new fabrics in January 2008 for the coming Fall / Winter retail season and beyond. Many innovative fabrics have been created in response to challenges presented to us by the best clothing companies in the world. Polartec, LLC has built its brand on innovation, custom solutions, and product development with an eye on the environment. The 2008 / 2009 product line is true to form.

Eco-Engineering – Polartec, LLC is the world leader in eco-friendly, recycled-content synthetic fabrics and we continue to invest heavily in this category. In 2008 more than 20% of our total production will be recycled content fabrics and we now offer recycled options in every one of our product lines including Polartec® Power Dry®, Polartec® Power Stretch®, Polartec® Thermal Pro®, Polartec® Wind Pro®, Polartec® Power Shield®, and of course Polartec® Classic. Our recycled content Polartec® Classic fabrics have been adopted by some of the largest fleece programs in the world and we are already planning for an even bigger year in 2009. Every garment made of these fabrics saves a significant amount of energy and also reduces greenhouse gas emissions associated with production. Aigle, Berghaus, Eider, Lafuma, Lowe Alpine, Patagonia, Prana and Quicksilver all have recycled content Polartec® fabrics in their lines.

Polartec® Hardface® Technology – Polartec® Hardface® Technology, a surface fusion polymer that dramatically increases durability and water repellency of any fabric, is now being applied to a broader range of fabrics in response to its popularity with Polartec® Wind Pro®. Marmot will have a new full zip, lightweight jacket made of Polartec® Power Stretch® with Hardface® Technology. Others, including Westcomb, are using Polartec® Hardface® treated Polartec® Power Shield® in their soft shell lines. The North Face is introducing three new styles of Polartec® Wind Pro® with Hardface® Technology including the updated Blackhawk and Ladyhawk in a lightweight version with stretch and the Whitecomb in a very warm, herringbone style. And Arc’teryx adds the new Nomad Hoody to their extensive line of garments made of Polartec® Wind Pro® with Hardface® Technology, made of an extremely warm and tough version of the fabric.

Polartec® Power Shield® – 2008 represents a major update to the Polartec® Power Shield® line with new fabrics and more momentum in the market than ever before. Patagonia has a new performance soft shell called the Spindrift and a lifestyle jacket, the Intermediary, in a new version with recycled content. Arc’teryx has updated their classic Gamma SV and Gamma MX with new styles of Polartec® Power Shield®. The Arc’teryx Hercules and Griffon jackets made of highly breathable Polartec® Power Shield 02™ have been hot commodities this season and will continue into Fall 2008. Marmot is introducing The Andromeda Jacket using a new Polartec® Power Shield® with a custom interior fabric that has the Marmot logo knit into the fabric. For the true technical customer, Polartec® Power Shield® offers a highly compelling balance of air flow (to move moisture away) and wind resistance. In dynamic, real world situations, the Polartec® Power Shield® design outperforms both full film and single woven options.

Wool – Mountain Hardwear, Arc’teryx and Marmot all have Polartec® Power Dry® with Wool in their base layer collections this year. This Polartec® product is unique in the market because the inner surface is all polyester and the outer surface is a wool / poly blend – so it’s not itchy and wicks moisture quickly away from the skin. And in insulation, Lowe Alpine is introducing a new Polartec® Thermal Pro® cable knit style featuring a unique renewable wool and polyester blend. More about Polartec.