Feeling chilly? Everlane’s got you covered. The San Francisco brand has launched a new line of puffer jackets that promises to be “heavy on warmth, light as a feather and totally recycled.”
ReDown, as the collection is called, marks the first time Everlane is including down in its assortment, mostly because of the animal-welfare concerns.
“Down is undoubtedly the warmest, softest and lightest option when it comes to outerwear, but oftentimes it is produced using force-feeding and live-plucking processes, which is why we initially waited to develop with down,” Kimberley Smith, general manager of apparel at Everlane, told Sourcing Journal.
To bypass those problems, Everlane uses down from a facility in Hungary that reclaims feathers from old duvets and pillows across Europe, then washes, dries, and sterilizes them at high temperatures.
For the finishing touch, Everlane clads its jackets in 100 percent polyester shells derived from post-consumer recycled plastic bottles, just like its earlier ReNew range, which is insulated with PrimaLoft’s synthetic (and partly recycled) Gold fill.
“Our long-term goal is to minimize our use of virgin materials where we can,” said Smith, noting that Everlane has committed to eliminating all virgin plastic from its supply chain by 2021. “In addition to ReNew, we wanted to provide our customers an outerwear option that was packable and built for even colder weather, which is why we expanded into ReDown this year.”
The company’s aim, she added, is to have both ReNew and ReDown in Everlane’s core outerwear lineup for the fall and winter seasons “going forward.” The brand just needs to make sure its lead times are long enough because sourcing recycled materials can take more time.
The ReDown jackets start at $168 for the “puffiest” oversized puffer and top out at $198 for a full-length “sleeping bag” coat. Besides black and white, colors include autumnal jewel tones such as cobalt and dark spice.