Cover Story: Columbia Sportswear Columbia’s C


olumbia Sportswear’s UK and Ireland country manager Dan Trapp pulls no punches when he says the company’s new autumn/winter 2011 range will reinvigorate the outdoor market. “If you look at the industry, the general solutions for staying warm and dry are based on technologies that are 20-30 years old. “If any other industry had stayed still for that long, it would have disappeared. We are coming to market with game-changing innovations that will offer consumers a new level of standard.” Trapp goes so far as to say that Columbia is modelling itself on technology giant Apple, which redefined the mobile phone market with the iPhone and has built a market from scratch with its latest offering, the iPad tablet


computer. For


Columbia, innovation will come in three forms. It will


enhance its existing Omni-Dry evaporation technology; launch OutDry, a new


footwear and glove water- proofing


technology; and


‘explode’ the story for Omni-Heat, its range of thermal technologies.


18 www.sgboutdoor.co.uk


Apple aspirations


Columbia Sportswear is looking to ‘redefine the standard of what consumers expect when looking to stay warm and dry’, with innovation at the heart of its plans. David Pittman met UK and Ireland country manager Dan Trapp to hear what it has in store.


Trapp says innovation isn’t a new strategy and has been a part of the Columbia Sportswear story for three years, starting with the launch of Omni-Shade, a clothing range offering UVA and UVB protection, in spring 2008. In winter the same year it launched the Techlite midsole technology for shoes, and adapted Omni-Tech to be micro-porous. A year later, in winter 2009, it launched the Omni-Shield repellence technology, and in spring 2010 Omni-Freeze, an advanced cooling technology.


These were followed by Omni-Heat products in autumn/winter 2010, and an insect blocker treatment and Omni-Dry products for spring 2011.


“That’s eight innovations in three years,” says Trapp. “I can’t think of many others that have had three innovations in eight years, let alone match us. We are pushing the limits with our products and putting a focus on innovation to drive the brand forward.”


To tackle the demand for dry clothing, the autumn/winter 2011 developments will see the range of Omni-Dry styles tripled and OutDry introduced to the market,


While Omni-Dry borrows technology developed in other markets, OutDry has been developed in Italy specifically for Columbia Sportswear.


OutDry is a process by which the membrane is applied to the


outermost fabric of the shoe to prevent ingress of water and dirt, unlike older technologies that use a


bootie construction where the membrane liner is stitched to the top of the upper.


Trapp says OutDry prevents any water and dirt entering the shoe, thus improving breathability, fit and stopping weight gain. “The bootie


construction is fine but it’s 20-year-old


technology and we believe OutDry is a better solution,” he says.


The other important consumer development is Omni-Heat, the technologies in Columbia Sportswear’s products that keep wearers warm.


Trapp says Omni- Heat Thermal


Insulation is 50 per cent recycled and fully synthetic, achieving the highest heat retention per gram of any insulation on the


market.


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