Meet Thermore, the Most Influential Ingredient Brand You've Never Heard Of

Next time you find yourself buying a shiny new puffy jacket, take a moment before checkout to look at the tags. Gear, just like your favorite meal, is made of ingredients. And if you ask any gear designer they'll tell you the same thing a Michillin-starred chef will: the ingredients matter most. Some “ingredient brands” have become household names in the outdoor space. Others have been quietly innovating behind the scenes. Thermore falls into the latter category. Though if you really look at their 50+ year history, you’ll see the brand is in a category of its own.

Established in 1972 in Milan, where it's still headquartered today, Thermore specializes in creating innovative and sustainable synthetic outerwear insulation to help brands like Eddie Bauer, Mammut, Nike, Orvis, REI, Stio, and others create warmer outerwear with less environmental impact.

From the heart of the fashion world, founder Lucio Siniscalchi drew inspiration from the booming snowsports scene in the nearby Alps, coming up with the idea to make ski jackets to wear on the slopes but also in the city, even to work—decades before the city-to-mountain gorp aesthetic became as prevalent as it is now. In the early '80s, he saw used plastic bottles being recycled into more solid goods and wondered why they couldn't be turned into insulating fibers. So he did just that, kickstarting a whole new segment in the textile industry.

The idea to integrate recycled materials proved pivotal, setting the twin north stars of sustainability and material innovation in Thermore's sky. Season after season, the company worked on its product to make it not just more sustainable but warmer and more durable too. Then in 2011, Thermore achieved an outdoor industry first ascent in creating the first insulation made of 100% recycled plastic bottles.

"We seamlessly blend innovation with sustainability, making eco-conscious design a priority at the genesis of every project," says Patrizio Siniscalshi, Thermore's managing director and Lucio’s son. It's a tact that the world's best-known performance apparel brands have appreciated, and taken advantage of to make their products.

In 2019, Thermore launched Ecodown, a synthetic, sustainable alternative to down made of 100% post-consumer plastic bottles. Its lofty fibers are soft, with a high warmth-to-weight ratio that gives jackets like the Stio Skycrest Insulated Snap Shirt and Karbon Chronicle Down Jacket their ultralight warmth.

By focusing on synthetic insulation, Thermore can do more than simply mimic (and improve upon) traditional down. Their Invisiloft insulation, for example, packs as much warmth as possible into a thinner material for lighter jackets and gear. Then there's EVOdown, which brings some of down's best characteristics to a rolled design that has high loft and provides full thermal coverage across a jacket. (It's also 100% recycled, naturally.)

Sustainability isn't just about recycled materials though. Longevity is key, which is why Thermore crafts their insulation to last as long as possible, extending the lifespan of the clothing we all beat up on in the mountains. "By using a combination of specialized binders and heat within the fiber structure, we significantly boost the durability of our materials," says Siniscalchi. The company's insulation is engineered not to migrate or sneak out of seams—and to withstand routine washing and care, too.

Thermore doesn't have any plans to slow down. "We continue to develop cutting-edge, eco-friendly materials designed for high performance," says Siniscalchi. So the next time you're shopping for a new ski jacket, parka, or puffy, pay as much attention to the tags as you do the season's new colorway. Maybe you'll spot the Thermore name, and this time you'll recognize it—not just for warmth, but for quality, durability, and sustainability, too.

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