It ain't fashion, if it ain't sustainable

Matthew Betcher

Rethinking Circularity / Garments Apart / III

10 April 2026

8 minutes

Circularity cannot be retrofitted onto a finished product; it must be resolved as a structural constraint before construction ever begins.

Recyclable Materials Mean Nothing if the Product Cannot Be Disassembled

Performance outerwear is among the most technically complex categories in apparel—and among the hardest to recycle. Multi-material construction, bonded membranes, and inseparable trims have long made end-of-life recovery a structural impossibility rather than a logistical inconvenience. A new research and development project is testing whether design for disassembly can change that calculus from the ground up.

Subir Ghosh

Feature

Wireframe: Why Garments Must Come Apart

Rethinking Circularity / Garments Apart / II

8 April 2026

7 minutes

The argument for circular outerwear does not begin at the end of a garment's life. It begins with what the garment is made from, and why those choices matter.

Circular Design Is Not Compromising Performance; It Is Redefining What Performance Means

High-performance outerwear has been optimised, for decades, around functional benchmarks that left little room for circular thinking. A project built around one garment—drawing on down insulation, heat-dissolvable stitching, and recycled nylon shell fabric—is testing whether that incompatibility is real or assumed. The findings, drawn from contributors across the supply chain, suggest the conflict is more a question of material selection than structural limitation.

Subir Ghosh

Feature

Wireframe: Why Garments Must Come Apart

Rethinking Circularity / Garments Apart / I

6 April 2026

8 minutes

Where performance apparel meets its limits, the real question is not what a garment is made from, but how it was conceived to end.

Four Partners, One Jacket, and a New Logic for End-of-Life

The gap between recyclable components and a recoverable product has long defined the limits of sustainable apparel. The Peak Performance R&D Helium Loop Anorak, built in collaboration with four specialist partners, was designed to close that gap—by treating end-of-life disassembly not as an afterthought but as the primary constraint governing every construction and material decision.

Subir Ghosh

Feature

Wireframe: Why Garments Must Come Apart

PRESS RELEASE / Launch

16 March 2026

3 minutes

Until now, performance products that combine multiple materials, such as natural down insulation, zippers, and elastic trims, have been nearly impossible to recycle due to the complexity of disassembly at the end-of-life.

Allied Feather + Down, NetPlus, and Resortecs Launch a Paradigm-Shifting Circularity Solution

MONTEBELLO, U.S.: Allied Feather + Down, NetPlus , Pertex, and Resortecs, leaders in circularity, recycling, and advanced materials, are joining forces with the Swedish backcountry ski apparel makers at Peak Performance to introduce a paradigm-shifting circular jacket.

Until now, performance products that combine multiple materials, such as natural...

PRESS RELEASE / Announcement

6 March 2026

3 minutes

ExpeDRY down was developed specifically to combat internal humidity. By integrating gold particles at the molecular level, the technology speeds the evaporation of moisture within the down cluster itself, actively working to maintain loft in damp or high-exertion conditions.

eVent Fabrics and ALLIED Feather + Down Redefine Down Jacket Performance

LEAWOOD, U.S.: eVent Fabrics, a global leader in waterproof and breathable fabric technologies, has partnered with ALLIED Feather + Down to demonstrate a new evolution in down jacket performance. Debuting at Performance Days in Munich, March 18–19, the concept system addresses one of the most persistent limitations in insulated outerwear: internal...

PRESS RELEASE / Launch

21 November 2025

3 minutes

ALLIED Feather + Down, NetPlus, and Resortecs Launch a Paradigm-Shifting Circularity Solution with Peak Performance

MONTEBELLO, CALIFORNIA: ALLIED Feather + Down, NetPlus, PERTEX, and Resortecs, leaders in circularity, recycling, and advanced materials, are joining forces with the Swedish backcountry ski apparel makers at Peak Performance to introduce a paradigm-shifting circular jacket.

Until now, performance products that combine multiple materials, such as...

PRESS RELEASE / Announcement

27 November 2024

2 minutes

Montane will offer ExpeDRY in 100% of their down jackets, being the first to adopt the technology over all down jackets.

Montane Adopts Allied's ExpeDRY Across Down Product Offering

MONTEBELLO, CALIF., U.S.: Allied Feather + Down (AF+D), global leaders in high performance, ethically sourced, and recycled down, will be supplying their high performance ExpeDRY ultra dry down to Montane for their fall 2025 down apparel line.

ExpeDRY represents the evolution of performance down for use in extreme situations, replacing chemical...

PRESS RELEASE / Event

20 November 2024

2 minutes

The award-winning 1000 Fill Power jacket joins a growing line of ALLIED apparel that is specifically designed with a look to the future, where the lines between fashion and performance outerwear continue to blur.

Allied Feather + Down’s 1000 Fill Power ExpeDRY Insulated Jacket Takes Home 2024 ISPO Award

Montebello, Calif., U.S.: Allied Feather + Down (AF+D), global leaders in high performance, ethically sourced, and recycled down, is proud to announce their new 1000 Fill Power ExpeDRY down jacket is a 2024 ISPO Award winner.

Created in partnership with Japanese-based textile trading company MN Inter-Fashion, this jacket is made from an extremely...

Event Roundup / Functional Fabric Fair

25 July 2024

8 minutes

Functional Fabric Fair is a premier marketplace in the United States where the apparel industry sources the most current innovations in high performance functional fabrics. The just-concluded New York City edition looked at the future of polyester, and also dwelt on the challenges posed by upcoming legislations worldwide.

From the Show Floor: High-Performance Functional Fabrics, Finishes, Trims Took Centrestage

Sustainability is less of a destination and more of a journey and it is critical that stakeholders in the textile-fashion industry are honest about how they communicate their sustainability credentials to avoid greenwashing, was a thought that echoed around the sprawling grounds of the recently concluded Functional Fabric Fair at New York.

Scott Kaier

Report

PRESS RELEASE / Announcement

21 November 2023

3 minutes

Jack Wolfskin is also a pioneer of the first order when it comes to sustainability. The company has been a member of the Fair Wear Foundation since 2010 and was awarded with FWF Leader status seven times.

Allied Feather + Down’s Revolutionary ExpeDRY Down Insulation Adopted Across Jack Wolfskin’s FW24 Hydrophobic Down Line

Montebello, Calif., US: After an extremely successful retail launch, Allied Feather + Down, industry leaders in high performance and hydrophobic down insulation, is proud to announce Jack Wolfskin, creators of innovative, eco-conscious outdoor apparel, equipment, and footwear will replace current, chemical-intensive hydrophobic down with Allied’s...