HEALTH, SAFETY & WELLBEING HISTORY IN THE MAKING?
Peter Dumigan, Managing Director of the Hultafors Group UK, says that the need for comfort, wellbeing and efficiency not only shaped the first trousers ever made but have driven the latest innovations in modern work trousers 2500 years later.
Making durable, functional and ergonomic trousers that offer great comfort for people who are always on the go has been a constant challenge over the last three millennia. As much as we might take the functionality of a pair of trousers for granted, they have developed and evolved over the years through innovation – by responding to the demands of wearer’s needs and their practical requirements.
It is said that the origin of trousers as a functional and practical garment can be traced back to the warrior equestrian societies of Eastern Europe and Asia Minor as far back as the sixth century BC. The Scythian and Persian peoples developed trousers as a practical alternative to wearing robes on horseback.
Trouser-type garments took many forms over the next 2000 years and it was only into the early 19th Century that ankle-length trousers – until then worn mostly by the lower working classes became more widely accepted as the garment of choice throughout society. The evolutionary process of trouser design and development was one in which garments were tailored to the practical needs of their wearers.
It was further driven by the impact of the industrial revolution and the need for clothing in the workplace that was specifically suited to the needs of those employed there. Probably the most significant clothing development in the 19th Century was Levi Strauss’s invention of the canvas work trouser for miners in 1853. It was the first of its kind, but it was not until 1873 that further innovation was seen with Strauss’ introduction of blue denim trousers, later incorporating metal rivets for greater garment durability and longevity.
Despite innovations such as the zipper-fly for trousers and the basic-styled garments like the Bib ‘n’ Brace and Boilersuit, the workplace had to wait over 100 years, until 1975 in fact, for the next stage in trouser evolution. It was the invention by Matti Viio – a Swedish electrician - of the Holster Trousers with Kneepads that heralded the Snickers Workwear brand and the era of purpose- designed working clothes for modern-day professional tradesmen and women. Since 1975, Snickers Workwear has been inventing and reinventing work trousers with kneepads each with a combination of market-leading design technology, hi-tech fabric innovations for comfort and functionality and more recently a sharp focus on sustainability.
After nearly 50 years of continual innovation, Snickers Workwear now has a range of over 90 styles of trousers
with eight different types of kneepad in the patented KneeGuard Systems for individual worker needs in a wide variety of working environments. From professional trades in building and construction, to engineering and maintenance, logistics and warehousing, heavy and light industries as well as hazardous workplaces, Snickers Workwear has a pair of trousers to suit and kneepads for protection - for all shapes and sizes.
In what is probably the most ground-breaking work trouser innovation, the brand has now launched the world’s first built-in, certified kneepads which are completely integrated into a pair of Snickers Workwear’s premium stretch Work Trousers - the unique AllroundWork, Stretch Trousers with Capsulized Kneepads and Holster Pockets. The result of an intensive research and development process that has spanned the last three years, they deliver low-profile, comfortable impact protection – tested, performance validated and certified to exacting International Standards. These new work trousers are an innovative combination of cutting-edge sportswear technology coupled with well-established workwear know-how to suit craftsmen and women who are constantly on the move and want the comfort, flexibility and durability of welded-into-place, certified knee protection.
Building Capsulized kneepads Designed and engineered in partnership with YBC, the Capsulized kneepad components comfortably deliver effective penetration protection and impact absorption for the wearer.
A durable CORDURA stretch covering provides external fabric durability. It integrates with the first performance layer of high-density foam which delivers maximum protection. This combines further with a shield of Ortholite comfort foam technology that’s highly shock absorbent.
Comfort and protection are further enhanced by a foam comfort layer for pressure release when working while kneeling. Finally, there’s an inner polyester fabric which seals the outer protection layers onto the trouser leg and provides a comfortable surface between the wearer’s knee and the kneepad itself.
It’s effectively a Capsulized Layer Cake with a number of protection layers that work with each other to dissipate the energy created by the impact of working on your knees or if you accidentally bump them in and around the workplace.
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