Encounter and Resolve
Finally, the sample for the HLVTC down jacket is almost complete.
The journey began in December of last year with an encounter with Classer, a down specialist factory in my hometown of Miyako City, Iwate Prefecture, so I hope you will take a look at this.
Cold Weather Awareness Shaped by the Environment
Miyako City, Iwate Prefecture, my hometown, is located on the easternmost tip of Honshu. It's a beautiful place with clear seas where the first sunrise of the year can be seen earliest on Honshu.
Winters are much colder than in Tokyo, and surrounded by high mountains, cold winds called Yamase (mountain winds) blow in winter.
When I was a student, I would bundle my scarf up to my nose and cycle, freezing. In winter, my family's car would be started 15 minutes before departure, with the engine and air conditioning on, and I'd pour hot water from a kettle on the frozen windshield to melt the ice.
If we had a snowball fight, we'd rarely run out of ammo. On mornings after heavy snowfall, the day would start with shoveling snow, and classmates would come with shovels to help.
If the snow was too deep in some areas, the school would issue a no-attendance order, which made children happy and parents despair. That's the kind of environment it was.
In this city, Classer, a specialized down jacket factory, has a long history of producing down wear for the Antarctic research expeditions and OEM products for various brands.
Their original factory brand, Hayachine Made, won the Good Design Award in 2022 and has collaborated with various brands and companies.
Amidst this, HLVTC collaborated with Ryo Takaiwa, a musician who is from the same hometown and also a junior from my high school, to produce and successfully sell the "NIGHT RIDER" model.
To Create the Ultimate Down Jacket
With this continued relationship, HLVTC has spent the past year researching and contemplating the design, materials, and structure. If we're going to do it, we want to create the best possible product from the start. We won't tolerate any compromises; if I'm not completely satisfied, I don't want to release it.
As was the case with Dyneema leather, and frankly, as I always think, this might not be something we can make many times. First, I'd like to explain the common materials for this project.
For the outer material, my priorities were waterproofing, breathability, lightness, and toughness. Being this demanding naturally narrowed down the options. After re-examining, I returned to the material I initially considered.
We adopted eVent fabric, developed by BHA in the UK as a shell for mountain climbing and ski mountaineering, which achieves a high level of both waterproofing and breathability. Among these, I chose one known for its lightness and breathability.
Source：https://www.eventfabrics.com
It features the unique Direct Venting technology, which laminates an ePTFE membrane with billions of microscopic pores, offering an impressive water resistance of 20,000mm and breathability of 30,000g/㎡ over 24H.
The main difference often compared to GORE-TEX is that ePTFE is not coated. This property contributes to its higher initial breathability compared to GORE-TEX, making it excellent at keeping the inside of the jacket dry and lightweight. As an aside, it's not pleasant to disparage something while praising another. GORE-TEX is also a material I like very much. It's about finding the right material for the right purpose.
Incidentally, ePTFE refers to the material in the middle of a 3-layer fabric. Whether this is used or a PU material is employed makes a big difference (hence, 3-layer fabrics are divided into ePTFE-based and PU-based), but I will omit the details here as it would make the explanation too long.
Judging it to have excellent waterproofing, incredible breathability, lightness, and overwhelming specifications, I decided on this for the outer fabric.
The Highest Quality Even in Unseen Areas
And then the down. While the types may not be widely known, down jackets broadly fall into two categories: goose or duck.
Goose down is considered higher quality because geese are larger, meaning their individual feathers are also larger. And among them, regions with harsher cold are said to produce higher quality down.
When many feathers gather, a large layer of air—an insulating layer—is created, which is called dead air. The more dead air there is, the less body heat escapes, and warmth is maintained. Imagine a thermos with good insulation; it's a similar concept.
Therefore, larger goose down from colder regions leads to higher quality. Wishing to use the highest quality down, I consulted Mr. Kobayashi, the president of Classer, asking if there was a company that dealt exclusively in high-quality down. He introduced me to Kawada Feather, a specialized down manufacturer.
Source：https://kwd.jp
I empathized with their craftsman-like attitude, whose company philosophy is "to perfect the quality of down," and decided to do business with them. Please see their commitment to down.
As a result of our consultation, I chose Hungarian silver goose down. These geese are raised on farms in the midst of nature, using modern methods and under strict management.
They freely roam vast grasslands, swim freely in wide lakes, and are raised naturally and healthily.
The southern region of Hungary is an extremely fertile land, with vast grain fields stretching to the horizon, including those for livestock feed.
However, nature there is harsh, and they must survive in grasslands with extreme temperature differences between day and night.
In this rich land with its blessed environment and severe climatic conditions, geese are managed and raised on specialized farms. Fed abundantly, the feathers of these silver geese develop sufficiently to protect themselves, becoming strong and excellent.
Moreover, Hungarian silver geese are highly vital and have very large bodies, so their feathers are extremely durable, with large down balls and excellent loft, resulting in superb quality with rich insulation.
With a fill power of 800fp or more, the down is quite fluffy and voluminous, offering excellent body temperature protection through abundant dead air. It is a material also used in high-quality down comforters.
What Ultimately Touches the Body
And then the lining. Since we've been so extravagant up to this point, it needs to be something that stands shoulder to shoulder with the rest.
The main prerequisites are smooth sleeve glide, a lustrous finish, and lightweightness. It also needs to be thin yet strong.
I visited fabric trading companies, touched and examined thousands of samples, but nothing quite satisfied me, making the process quite difficult. Many options weren't bad, some might even have been good. But given my personality, I can't proceed with "might be good." I need to feel like "this is the one."
Ultimately, it turned out to be an original product from a company with whom we are newly establishing a business relationship: Daiichibo Co., Ltd. from Fukui Prefecture, Japan's sacred land of synthetic fibers.
I conveyed my requirements and aspirations to the person in charge, and after reviewing various samples that matched my vision, I finally found the material I had imagined. Its name is DICROS DNA Light.
Source：https://www.dicros.co.jp/textile-products/dna/
It's a high-density taffeta woven meticulously with ultra-fine threads without tension, maintaining excellent airtightness. It's supple yet crisp, and the sleeves glide smoothly. The moment I found it, I shouted in my heart.
Incidentally, according to the person in charge, this is the first time it's being used as a lining. Incredibly luxurious.
Finally, the fleece material for the inside of the pockets. This was already decided: Teijin Frontier's OCTA material.
Source：https://www2.teijin-frontier.com/product/post/22/
This is a polyester fiber with hollow threads containing holes, and eight projections arranged radially in a octopus-leg shape. It boasts various functions that surpass conventional hollow threads, including sweat absorption and quick-drying, lightness, heat shielding/insulation, and bulkiness.
Well, that's roughly it. This time, there's no space left to talk about the design, so the down jacket will be a two-part blog series.
A dish made only of luxurious ingredients is not necessarily delicious. It's about the cooking method, solid technique, a spice-like sense, and a touch of madness. Next time, I'll delve into the design.