Woolrich taps Goldwin’s partnership with Spiber for ‘Future Arctic Parka’ using Brewed Protein fibres

Woolrich has launched its most sustainable parka to date with the help of Japanese high performance sportswear brand Goldwin – the owner of a minority stake in Woolrich – using Brewed Protein fibres developed by biotech company, Spiber.

Last week saw Goldwin launch a nine-piece capsule collection created using Spiber’s wonder fibres at a two-day pop-up store in London’s Soho, but this is a first for Woolrich.

The ‘Future Arctic Parka’ bears all the hallmarks of the original ‘Arctic Parka’ launched by Woolrich in 1972 for the workers at the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, but the outer material utilises Spiber’s innovative structural materials, that are "regarded as a new solution to numerous pressing environmental issues and risks".

Under the theme of ‘Regenerative Circle’, the new version of Woolrich’s parka also has made in Japan recycled down in the insulation and a bio-derived material in the lining.

Goldwin has collaborated with fellow Japanese company Spiber on a joint development of structural protein materials since 2015, and has previously produced outerwear, t-shirts and sweaters on a small scale.

However, Spiber’s production plant in Thailand, which is manufacturing the Brewed Protein polymers, has upped the scale of production as it looks to supply materials to the market on a larger scale, and Goldwin’s own new nine-piece collection using the fibres nod to that development.

Applying Brewed Protein fibres to Woolrich’s parka underscores the brand’s "dedication to catalysing change in a society heavily reliant on finite natural resources, steering it toward a more sustainable and circular future".