A few different things come with the territory of writing for Proper Mag, and one of these is scrolling through endless insulated jackets from nice menswear retailers, making note of what makes the best ones so good – truly backbreaking work, I know.
In the process of this, you come across a fair few ‘out there’ insulated jackets – strange baffle shapes, interesting colours and even exciting new types of insulation.
Generally, the insulating component of an insulated jacket is made up of either duck feathers (down), or synthetic fibres such as Primaloft – each has its own benefits and drawbacks but the main takeaways are this…
Down offers better warmth for weight than synthetic insulation, whereas synthetic insulation can perform when wet, whereas down cannot.
As a general rule, this is just about all most people need to know about insulation, so to avoid boring our readers, we tend not to bang on about the nerdy specifics too much.
It doesn’t happen all that often, but every now and then, an outerwear manufacturer will release a puffy jacket with an entirely new kind of insulation that simply has to be expanded upon. The other day, however, we stumbled across the most unique kind of insulation in a puffer coat we’ve ever seen…
Insulation made of flowers.
That’s right, a company is producing puffer jackets whose insulating properties are derived from wildflowers, this company is sustainable fashion brand, PANGAIA.
As it turns out, PANGAIA putting flowers into jackets isn’t just a recent endeavour, but one that has been ongoing since 2019, the year that saw the company introduce its patented FLWRDWN™ into a series of outerwear.
Since FLWRDWN™’s conception, PANGAIA has been working hard to make the unique insulation as sustainable and warm as possible, and for AW24 they’ve unveiled the most advanced rendition yet.
The latest FLWRDWN™ consists of three separate materials…
The main constituent is obviously flowers, specifically, wildflowers that have been hand-harvested from native prairies without pesticides or irrigation, contributing to habitat conservation as well as supporting local biodiversity. This harvesting is managed by a non-governmental organization.
Interestingly, these wildflowers possess a down-like microstructure, in which they can be compressed, and will then expand when they have the space to do so – just like down. To assist this process, the wildflowers are treated with a maize-based polymer and PANGAIA’s patented aerogel. The combination of these elements results in the most thermally efficient FLWRDWN™ to ever exist.
The fill power is 83% higher than previous versions and for this season clocks in at an impressive 600, for context, this is the same as a great deal of North Face Nuptse’s – the fact that is contributed to simply by hand-harvested flowers and two other sustainable ingredients is pretty mind-blowing and definitely feels like it could be the future of insulated products.
PANGAIA’S offerings of FLWRDWN™ for AW24 come through the medium of a collection titled DNA – a capsule of flower-filled jackets and gilets in a range of seasonal hues.
The standout designs from the collection are a unisex long puffer jacket and a unisex puffer vest, with both being available in a variety of colours that echo the landscapes from which the materials for the pieces are harvested.
We’ve still got a lot of burning questions for FLWRDWN™, like, if we snag the jacket on a fence will we leave a trail of brightly coloured petals?
One thing we can say for sure though, is from where we’re stood it certainly seems like one of the most sustainable alternatives to traditional methods of insulation, and what’s more – it’s not a gimmick – FLWRDWN™ actually performs in a way that is equivalent to traditional insulations.
To find out more about FLWRDWN™, visit PANGAIA’s website.
All photo credits belong to David Richardson.
