Apparel giant VF Corp has announced plans to invest a further US$20m in its FutureLight breathable and waterproof fabric technology, whose launch is just a few months away.
The move was revealed on a conference call with analysts in the wake of the group’s results where it reported a 6% jump in revenues to US$2.3bn.
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Announced in January, the technology has been developed by the company’s The North Face business, and uses innovative nanospinning technology that allows “unprecedented” air permeability to be added into the membrane of a fabric for the first time.
The process creates nano-level holes, allowing for porosity while still maintaining total waterproofness, letting air move through the material and provide more venting than before, the company says. In addition, nanospinning gives designers the ability to adjust weight, stretch, breathability, durability, construction (knit or woven), and texture to match athletes’ and consumers’ activity or environment.
Designers can customise the fabric for specific usage, for example, by increasing breathability in garments for aerobic pursuits or increasing protection for harsh, wet climates. The ability to adjust these factors in fabric construction is unprecedented in apparel, equipment and accessories, the brand claims.
“The response from the marketplace has been very strong,” says Steven Rendle, president and CEO of VF Corp. “Given the opportunity FutureLight has to significantly disrupt the outdoor industry, we have decided to invest even more aggressively behind the breakthrough technology.”
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By GlobalDataScott Roe, VF Corp’s chief financial officer, says the investment, in addition to plant development, will go toward “building demand and awareness of this new technology,” along with print and online social marketing as well as in-store tools to help consumers understand the technology.
“It deals different, it performs differently and our team has done a tremendous job in being able to articulate that story in a very experiential way. And we’ll bring that to light both in print, online and in the in-store component.”
Rendle adds: “As we see the reception we felt this was a great time to lean in even harder on what we believe will be a very disruptive technology for the outdoor industry. What gives us such confidence in validation to put even more resources behind this launch is it’s such a breakthrough idea, [so] we want to make sure we’re able to tell this story in the clearest, most powerful way.
“Once you experience it, you understand just how different it is from some of the historical waterproof breathables we’ve all become accustomed to using. It’s important to remember that the way The North Face has positioned the product in its assortment this fall is at the very high end of their outdoor or mountain products in the Summit Series and in the Steep Series. So it does not have a broad assortment. It’s very targeted in those most technical pieces. That’s the absolute right place to start it. And then over time it will start to cascade through the broader rainwear assortment, and it will then will be followed with gen 2 and gen 3 iterations.
“So it is a breakthrough idea. It’s validation that the innovation focus is very clear at the North Face and they’re starting to line these ideas up to bring new exciting ideas to draw consumers to the brand.”
FutureLight can theoretically be used to make T-shirts, sweaters or even denim breathable, waterproof and comfortable. Sustainability is another benefit, with new practices in the fabric creation process allowing the brand to responsibly create three-layer garments through the use of recycled fabrics and production that cuts chemical consumption – as well as being produced in a cleaner, solar-powered factory.
