Outdoor Retailer Show: Icebreaker and Smartwool Follow-up

Follow up to Icebreaker and Smartwool.  I have to say that the amount of renewable fiber companies is growing now.  People are starting to pay a premium for the fibers they wear and people are becoming more conscious about it too… all part of the green movement.  

 Icebreaker has done a good job of not blasting it in your face.  The imagery was toned down a bit although the half naked man muscled out with a ram head on walking around definitely garnered some attention.  I talked with Anna a sales rep from Australia that was flown in to help with the booth.  She showed me the ID tags they put on their products which allows you to follow your product from the sheep to the factory to the story to your hands.  Kind of cool, I’ll hand it to them.  It’s a great way to infuse their sleek brand with some home grown/earthy feel.  Overall, the booth was toned down but still was clean and had a good feel to it. 

They weren’t alone in their movement.  Smartwool had a nice looking booth just a couple of booths away.  Smartwool stuck to what they are.  They are a fun brand that is moving into larger markets by offering more products.  The booth was open with a walkway from one side to another inviting people in.  They had their products lining it and the bright colors and benches were a nice relief from all of what was going on.  They did an excellent job of maintaining their brand.  Good for them and nice work!

Ibex.  A smaller brand that’s been around for about 10 years went right in the middle of the two.  The company is a “merino wool” company but has some products that use other materials like polyester and spandex to make a shell or other parts of the clothing.  Ibex is a simple but quality brand that offers pieces as base layers or lifestyle.  They have a couple of pieces like a jacket and some ski pants that are designed exclusively for comfort and to wick away moisture.  They are not water repellent and don’t claim to be.  This Vermont company is still carving out its niche in the market.  I did like their branding.  They too went with an animal from the same sub species as the sheep.  They went with an Ibex of all things.  The logo is clean and evokes some sort of imaginative exotic feel.  Not a content or educating brand it uses its uniqueness and imagery to create the want for the brand.  It’ll be interesting to see how the brand grows.