On a snowy day, back in February 2012, Dr. Gary Selwyn was busy in his kitchen in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He wasn鈥檛 fixing up a stew. Instead, he was blending hydrocarbon-based monomers, cross-linkers and polymerization initiators.

The chemist, formerly at Los Alamos National Laboratory, was used to big challenges and this one was no different. He was preparing a formula that had the potential to disrupt the textile industry for the next 100 years鈥攁 replacement for perfluorinated fluorocarbon (PFCs).

PFCs are chemicals commonly found in Durable Water Repellents (DWRs) on performance textiles. PFCs have been used extensively for the last 50 years. But new data and mounting lawsuits underscored the need for this to change. In conventional textile finishing, fabrics are pulled through a water-based 鈥渂ath鈥� containing the harmful PFCs. PFCs are persistent, so when the bath is flushed, the same PFCs end up in the groundwater and soil. Then, those same carcinogenic PFCs end up inside our bodies, where they can lead to cancer and birth defects.

Dr. Selwyn was determined to find a new way to create a PFC-Free finishing technology that offered superior water repellency. He found that water-free finishing was the way to go. The future of dry finishing technology was just being born.

Around the same time, Greenpeace issued a radical challenge, calling for outdoor companies to stop using harmful PFCs in their Durable Water Repellent (DWR) treatments.

It was music to Selwyn鈥檚 ears, because his kitchen experiments had produced a major development: a radical new finishing technology that not only met the Greenpeace challenge, but outperformed fabrics treated with the traditional “dirty” DWRs. Even better, it used no water.

Selwyn鈥檚 new company Green Theme Technologies (GTT) continuously refined and patented this new innovation.

Fast forward four years to the winter Outdoor Retailer (OR) show. Selwyn鈥檚 thermal, dry finishing technology is now producing high quality, finished fabric swatches. Selwyn meets up with Martin Flora at the OR show and Martin introduces him to Ryan Chen, who has a small textile operation in Taiwan. There, the three planned the emergence of , a combined East/West company that works together with GTT to bring newly-named 鈥淎quaVent鈥� technology to market as an environmentally responsible PFC-free and water-free finishing technology.

Extraordinary Performance Test Results

Selwyn鈥檚 initial goal was for AquaVent to withstand 50 machine wash cycles and still repel water under the industry standard AATCC 22 Spray Test. He was thrilled when it far surpassed that goal. “It achieved 100 washes with a spray rating of 100, and this was unheard of,” Selwyn said. Essentially, AquaVent proved immune to laundry as well as wear and tear.

The AATCC 22 Spray Test resembles the gentle watering of flowers from a garden bucket for 30 seconds. Since this is unlike actual rain, it provides an unrealistic test of water repellency performance. Undoubtedly, the best rain simulation is the Bundesmann Water Repellency Test, where water hits the fabric with a force roughly five times that of a cloudburst, simulating wind-driven rain. Added to this are moving rotors to simulate wear. In total, it is estimated to be 200 to 1,000 times tougher than the AATCC spray test.

Where the AquaVent technology really proves its mettle is with the Bundesmann Test. In this test, a number of key metrics are collected including the rating of visual repellency (from 1 = fully wetted to 5 = perfect), the percentage of absorbed water and the amount of water penetration through the fabric. Traditional finishing generally scores well under 2 with many that fail in the first one minute of the ten-minute test. AquaVent fabrics score over 4. In the real world, this is the difference between a jacket wetting out and feeling damp after six months of use, and one that continues to bead water like new indefinitely.

Water-Free Is the Magic Bullet

The secret behind such performance is the AquaVent dry-finish process. While virtually all other textile companies use wet-finishing, the AquaVent technology is an entirely new, water-free platform technology. It uses high-pressure gas to push the chemistry into the fabric and then thermally polymerizes the chemistry fusing the polymer with the fabric’s fibers on a molecular level. This strong bond means the finish is baked into the garment and won’t wear off or wash out. “You’re no longer just coating the fabric,” Selwyn said. “You’re overcoming factors like surface tension and the compressive nature of the knit and you’re able to get that penetration (deeply) into the fabric.”

What’s more, because the process behind his breakthrough dry finish technology doesn’t use water, it could clean up the textile industry, the second largest user and polluter of water globally (behind oil). The process is so groundbreaking and disruptive, even its inventor is watching its potential unfold. “I think we’ll be learning about it 50 years from now. We’re changing the way that textiles are made.”

Selwyn has seen this kind of profound technological advance change an industry before, because of a switch from ‘wet’ to ‘dry’ technologies. “I came from the semiconductor industry. In the ’80s, that industry was water-based. They dipped electronics into acids but then they changed course and began using a plasma鈥攄ry based鈥攑rocess. This allowed for miniaturization and high-density circuits that now power laptops, cell phones and microwave ovens.”

Early Aquavent Adopters

The performance of Aquavent caught the eye of designers at Marmot, who partnered with Green Theme International to use the technology in its EVODry rainwear, part of the brand’s own push for more sustainable apparel. The collection hit REI stores in February 2018, and Marmot says its EVODry jackets will protect against heavy rains for 24 straight hours. Backpacker recognized the Eclipse Jacket as one of the year’s most innovative pieces of gear and Gear Junkie awarded it Best in Show at 2018 Outdoor Retailer Winter Market.

For spring 2019, Marmot has expanded its use of the Aquavent technology. (It will be on display at Outdoor Retailer Summer Market this month in Denver). “Even when you’re just out walking you still need your pants to perform if it starts to rain,” said Claire Gibson, Marmot鈥檚 sustainability manager. “Working with GTI and our mills, we were able to find fabrics we felt were very on-trend and have been able to elevate our sportswear category.” Marmot is also using the tech in some fleece pieces. “There’s some different performance features when you use it on knit fabrics, but it definitely does help for protection in the off chance that you encounter precipitation,” Gibson said.

Black Diamond is the latest brand to partner with GTI, and its light-and-fast Distance Wind Shell, slated for spring 2019 and also being unveiled at Outdoor Retailer, was designed around the needs of sponsored athlete Joe Grant, whose trail running feats include a series of mountain ascents. “The GTI technology allows Black Diamond to achieve long-lasting water protection from both external and internal sources, cutting dangerous evaporative heat loss through wind exposure, while maintaining the lightest weight possible,” said Trent Bush, vice president of apparel at Black Diamond Equipment.

Bush says he was eager to get the shell to market while also testing the fabrics for other applications, from apparel to tents. “While [Aquavent] is an important outcome of GTI鈥檚 patented process, it is not the only one, just the first,” he said. “From a product-creation perspective, this is a dream come true. We can now manipulate variable performance and possibly aesthetic parameters at a totally new level.”

You Can’t Pollute What You Don’t Use

What Bush alludes to as a wide-open technology for new products, Green Theme sees as the path to the future: the most differentiating thing about Aquavent wasn’t that it is PFC-free, but that it鈥檚 water-free. The zero hazardous discharge process was groundbreaking. Not just better, but revolutionary. It was a game-changer for the industry. That became the inspiration for Green Theme.

In fact, it’s been through testing with partner brands, like Marmot and Black Diamond, that the textile industry continues to discover more benefits of the new technology. For instance, the Aquavent treatment keeps clothes cleaner longer because the polymer finish is not oleophilic, as with some other PFC-free finishes. Also, bonding of the polymer to the fabric improves the life cycle of the garment by preventing pilling and toughening fibers to withstand more washes and wear. Better laundry durability means fewer chemicals are washed off.

“As a company, I think we鈥檝e opened the door to what the future can look like. We don’t separate the mission of taking care of the planet from innovation,” said Green Theme鈥檚 Martin Flora.

Unlike a third of the PFC-free DWRs on the market, Green Theme’s dry process excludes the use of palm oil. Vegetable oils like palm and corn became a common substitute oil in the race to create PFC-free DWRs, since they had some natural repellency. However, they came with their own set of problems. On paper, palm oil sounds sustainable, but it has created economic incentive to mow down tropical rainforest that are home to endangered species, and plant palm tree farms. Plus, oils love mixing with other oils, resulting in an oleophilic finish.

Because the AquaVent technology uses a sealed chamber pressurized by gases there is no waste stream. Another advantage is the process allows for a cocktail of fabric treatments at once, so odor-resistant or flame-retardant qualities can be added without taking the fabric through an additional chemical bath.

Eliminating PFCs, avoiding palm oil, and reducing chemicals are all big steps in terms of sustainability, but the largest impact could come from Green Theme鈥檚 water-free process.

For apparel brands and textile manufacturers, this may be an “adapt or die” moment. Textile production is a dirty business: textile companies use roughly half of the world’s chemicals and generate one-fifth of the world’s industrial water pollution, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council. Most textile mills are in countries with poor pollution treatment and they often face a critical shortage of fresh water. Drought-stricken Sri Lanka, India, and major cities in China are already calculating a Day Zero of access to clean water. Wet-finish mills have operated for more than a century but are increasingly unsustainable.

“If you look at a lot of the mills, they know they need to clean up, but they’re still holding onto the wet-finish process, which uses chemicals and lots of water, both of which are expensive,” said Green Theme鈥檚 Brian LaPlante. “Our sell is that adopting the dry-finish process will save [mills] money in the long run because they will use less. Margins have a way of changing mindsets.”

Next Steps

Green Theme Technologies and Green Theme International are in the process of merging together and joining forces to deliver new technologies and innovations in water-free finishing of textiles, not just for performance outdoor wear, but also for fashion apparel, footwear, automotive textiles, military applications, marine and home-based textiles. That 鈥渟oup鈥� that Selwyn started in his kitchen several years ago will continue cooking for some time and has the aid of multiple, visionary-minded teammates.

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鈥淚t鈥檚 rare that you find someone who created a whole category; from the first show where no one knew what a snowboard was, to all the areas that wouldn鈥檛 even allow snowboarding,鈥� said Greg Thomsen, managing director of adidas Outdoor, which sponsors the Inspiration Awards. 鈥淸Donna and Jake鈥檚] perseverance, direction, and commitment is laudable. And they couldn鈥檛 be nicer, more honest people to deal with.鈥�

Years after a car accident derailed his effort to join the ski team at the University of Colorado Boulder, Jake began riding a Snurfer monoski. These had ropes attached to the nose for steering, and lacked bindings. Jake sensed it could be more. In 1977, he cribbed notes from skateboard and ski production and used them to tinker on his prototypes. He ditched the rope and used ski bindings to lock into a sideways stance. Two years later, Burton had sold a whopping 300 boards to shops and exhausted his finances. That led him to begin a mail order business, and the company flourished.

Such perseverance is in Burton鈥檚 DNA, and the company has used it to maintain its prominence on the three pillars of branding, community, and financial sustainability. 鈥淚 like to say we stand sideways and look at the world a little sideways,鈥� Donna said.

As snowboarding began to take hold at resorts across the country, the Carpenters looked to kindred markets to inform their decisions鈥攐r to use as cautionary tales. When Donna joined Burton鈥檚 leadership in the early 鈥�80s, she felt the ski industry had lost its passion: all the former ski bums she knew were fretting over spreadsheets. That was not something the Carpenters wanted for themselves. To safeguard against it, Jake pledged he鈥檇 ride 100 days a year鈥攁 promise he鈥檚 kept every year but two. 鈥淚t was that sense of staying connected and not losing why we鈥檙e in it,鈥� Donna said.

In the 鈥�90s, surf brands showed them what overexpansion looked like. 鈥淪urf had a legitimate lifestyle to sell and they got greedy by going public: they overproduced,鈥� Donna said. 鈥淪taying private is an incredible competitive advantage to us because we can invest in things like sustainability and gender diversity without having to worry about the next quarterly profit for our shareholders.鈥�

Instead, Burton has focused on what鈥檚 now and what鈥檚 next, strategically selecting athletes to sponsor to highlight the brand鈥檚 image and performance and always seeking to invite new members to the sport.

Over the decades, Burton鈥檚 sponsorship has fostered young athletes who grew up to represent the sport on the world stage, like a nine-year-old named Shaun White and a strong roster of women. For the broader snowboard audience, Burton runs several services and programs to help grow the sport鈥檚 community, including Learn to Ride, which also hosts women-only introductory sessions, and the Chill Foundation, which puts underprivileged youth on the slopes. There鈥檚 even the Riglet program to get kids from ages two to four onto modified boards.

They learned other lessons the hard way, but being pioneers earned them some leeway over the years. 鈥淲e made the mistake of hiring all the bros, or whatever, in the beginning and then there was a period of time where I think we went too far the other way and were just looking for specialists,鈥� said Donna. 鈥淲e realized that cultural fit and values are important.鈥�

Current upheaval around issues like diversity and the #MeToo movement have rattled companies in every industry, but Burton was ahead of the curve and a leader in women鈥檚 representation. 鈥淢y team is 45 percent female,鈥� Donna said. 鈥淭hat really came from an aha moment that Jake and I had 14 years ago.鈥� After rapid growth took in employees and participants from the male-dominated sports of skate, surf, and snow, Donna said the brand 鈥渢ook on a culture that we didn鈥檛 really mean to.鈥�

Six years ago, when European brands pushed for transparency in their production, Burton went all in, too, and now boasts one of the highest percentages of bluesign-approved softgoods in the industry.

In the early days, snowboarding had a chip on its shoulder, carving a way for itself on the slopes with the attitude of that sideways perspective. 鈥淭here was a sense of it being more than a sport, of it being a movement,鈥� Donna said. 鈥淚 think we can do that again in terms of fighting global climate change or something, but I miss a little bit of that rebel spirit.鈥�

Burton has found innovation is still a great way to disrupt and grow the industry. From initial board shapes鈥攕ome of which are seeing a retro rebirth鈥攖o the latest Step On bindings, the company has prioritized the rider first and lifestyle second. The Step Ons were born when Jake remarked to a company engineer that he鈥檇 spent enough years bending over to get into his bindings and wanted an easier option that would offer the same performance as a buckle binding. Five years later, that product came to market.

As chairman of the board, Jake has kept his focus on products and athletes. He鈥檚 instilled a simple litmus test for gear coming through the pipeline: if it doesn鈥檛 help the rider, let it go. He still tries on the latest apparel and technologies. In the past year, he began meeting with specialty retailers and going out to dinner to give a more familial feel to retailers who stayed loyal over three decades.

For Donna, the realization that Burton was a family first came amid the 1989 Savings and Loans Crisis. The bank had pulled Burton鈥檚 funding and Donna had to tell employees they couldn鈥檛 cash their paychecks for two weeks. 鈥淣obody blinked. Nobody complained, from the warehouse to the salespeople.鈥�

But does a lifetime achievement award imply they are ready to hand over the reins?

鈥淏urton鈥檚 our kid and it鈥檚 growing up and we want it to be independent,鈥� Donna said. 鈥淚鈥檓 not quite there yet, but I鈥檓 getting there.鈥�

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Salewa will build off six years of footwear experience for its limited North American launch into the outdoor apparel market. The targeted introduction of approximately 60 pieces will concentrate on its core alpine and run-hike apparel and hit shelves in August 2017.

The brand enters the U.S. and Canadian apparel market when other European brands are leaving. Berghaus and Bergan’s of Norway have pulled out, while Millet will shift to an exclusive distribution partnership with Backcountry.com. As part of the family-owned Oberalp Group SPA, Salewa will focus on long-term growth, something like a five-year plan, without the quarterly expectations of public companies.

Brian Mecham, Salewa North America’s general manager, says the brand has the infrastructure and service in place to support the addition of apparel. “And from a brand and product perspective, we continue to believe Salewa is well positioned for the North American market,” he said. “The feedback we鈥檝e received from dealers who鈥檝e been exposed to the line and brand positioning further substantiates this.” Mecham added that the long-term perspective on growth meant the brand could continue to emphasize quality over quantity.

A group of selected specialty retailers will initiate the apparel launch. The brand chose these partners for their success with Salewa footwear, reputation and a history of supporting new entries to the market.

Mike Donahue, chief instigating officer for the Vermont-based Outdoor Gear Exchange, said he’s been aware of Salewa since the ’90s and liked the apparel he’d seen at international trade shows since. He was among the dealers that sold Salewa footwear when that launched, and was impressed with the product quality. “While that was a new venture for Salewa globally, the company’s apparel is well established and the smart, tight collection we previewed was cherry picked to go together and be a great way to introduce the brand to our customers,” Donahue said.

The TirolWool jackets reflect the heritage, ethos, and technology of Salewa’s apparel. Headquartered in the autonomous South Tyrol region of Italy, the brand works with nearby wool farmers for a sustainable insulation and will debut Celliant technology in outdoor apparel. Celliant is a U.S. developed tech that uses thermo-reactive minerals fused with fibers to reflect body heat. The claim is that infrared light increases blood flow, and so aids in performance and recovery. The Fanes TirolWool Hooded Jacket will retail for $219.

The majority of the new apparel will come from two other collections. The Ortles collection is designed for alpine and ski mountaineering, with hybrid constructions of Gore-Tex, down, and fleece. The Pedroc collection is a lightweight run and hike line, with a a broad thermal range and performance attributes. Noting the high foot traffic in the mountains during the fall season, and the delayed onset of winter, Salewa seeks to tap into a fall audience that stays active well into the fourth quarter. Salewa will position these garments as Q3 options to help freshen retailer inventories, when summer gear is moving to sales racks. On the performance end, the apparel is designed for those who use mountains for training or sustained “hill” workouts. It’s a budding trend, but one that Salewa has targeted specifically.

Already part of an international business reaching into Asia and the Americas from its European base, Salewa is prepared to tap into its established product collections as its apparel business grows. “Our goal is to maintain our brand position and strategically introduce product that is aligned with the end consumer from an activity, product feature, and value perspective as we continue to grow in the right way,” Mecham said.

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