Teijinconex®: In fashion with Snow Peak

Global demand for outdoor fashion apparel has grown steadily over the past few years, with consumers becoming increasingly keen to enjoy the benefits of durable clothes designed for hiking, camping, and mountaineering in their everyday, city lives. Snow Peak, a Japanese company specializing in outdoor lifestyle products, has experienced significant growth over the last decade, primarily by leveraging this trend of urbanized outdoor culture. Since 2016, they have partnered with Teijin Aramid to create a range of Japanese-designed fire-resistant outdoor clothing that integrates Teijinconex, Teijin’s high-performance meta-aramid fiber.

From Japanese mountains to cities around the world

Snow Peak was founded in 1958 by Yukio Yamai, an accomplished Japanese mountaineer, who was disillusioned with the quality of climbing gear available on the market. “My grandfather’s focus on quality and his love of the outdoors continue to guide our company today,” says Lisa Yamai, Yukio’s granddaughter and Snow Peak’s Chief Designer. “Over time, we’ve naturally developed and expanded our product offering, in order to stay relevant to consumers. In 2014, for example, we launched Snow Peak Apparel, a globally available range of high-performance clothing that caters to both urban and country life. In 2016, we started partnering with Teijin Aramid, and now our coverall pants, jackets, and aprons integrate Teijinconex fabric, which significantly improves the performance of these products.”

Better flame resistance with Teijinconex inside

Thanks to its chemical structure, Teijinconex is highly resistant to heat, fire, and chemicals. “We were very keen to test out the high-performance properties of Teijinconex fabrics, and to see whether we could successfully integrate it into our products,” says Lisa. “There is obvious overlap between Teijin Aramid’s drive to improve the performance of products, and our own focus on quality and durability. Our new outdoor clothing line offers high levels of heat resistance thanks to Teijinconex, which maintains its special properties even with exposure to temperatures of up to 400°C. This is great for producing rugged, outdoor clothing that can be worn safely around campfires. What’s more, Teijinconex’s soft texture ensures wearer mobility and offers fashionable comfort that is suitable for outdoor use, both in the city and in the countryside.”

When color matters: Teijinconex neo

“Our Teijinconex outdoor range has been commercially available since April 2016,” says Lisa. “So far, this range has been a success, and we’re happy with Teijinconex fabrics. Nevertheless, in the medium term, we’re looking to adopt Teijinconex neo fabrics, because of Teijinconex neo’s greater color possibilities. Teijinconex neo is easily dyeable, and because of this, we’ll be able to offer our high-performance range in many more colors.  In addition, Teijinconex neo can be delivered to us more quickly, more flexibly and in smaller quantities, as the fabrics can be piece-dyed at a later stage in the production process. We’re excited to start working with this new member of the Teijinconex family soon!”

Building the brand together

“Moving forward, we aim to scale up our range of products that integrate Teijinconex neo, and to investigate new ways of improving the performance of our products through the strategic use of Teijin Aramid’s materials,” says Lisa. “In addition, we’d like to grow our business together with Teijin Aramid. In particular, we’d like to explore brand-building opportunities with Teijin Aramid, such as by issuing our press releases together and undertaking joint marketing efforts. With so much common ground between the Teijin Aramid and Snow Peak brands, we’re sure that we can collaborate further. As Pixar’s John Lasseter famously put it, ‘Quality is the best business plan!’.”