Fiz won the 2004 Marie-Claire prize, given to the best new designer and the L’Oreal Paris prize for the best collection at Cibeles for his elegant and sophisticated style. Now he shows his collections annually at Cibeles and sells in Europe and Japan. We at Polartec are always thrilled to see our fabrics being used in unique ways and honored to have been a part of such a well-received collection. Power Stretch has never looked so good…take a look.

The Arc’teryx Strato Hoody is an insulating mid-layer, made with Polartec® Thermal Pro® fabric for an excellent warmth-to-weight ratio. Featuring durable flat locked seams, lamination technology, and an anatomic fit for layering, the Strato hoody functions for mid-layer insulation or stand-alone use.

To be eligible, you must go to the Polartec Facebook Page and in a short comment underneath THIS post, tell us- if you could go anywhere in the world with this Arc’teryx jacket, where would it be?

We will be able to provide the winner with the size and color of their choosing.
We will pick a winner at random on Wednesday Sept. 29th at Noon.

Good luck and thanks again to all 5000 of you!

Thanks to all our Fans for participating and more importantly, thanks to all of the incredible employees and volunteers who work at the vitally important shelters across the country!

Every season we get a handful of early sample garments from our customers so we can seed them to the media for testing and reviews. Right now we’ve got a bunch of the coolest new Fall ‘10 layers from Patagonia, The North Face, Mountain Hardwear, Arc’teryx, Marmot, Canada Goose, Isis and more. As a reward to our loyal JustaZipper readers, we’re going to try doing an occasional product giveaway with some of these garments. To kick it off, we’re going to do a drawing for the new R3 Hi-Loft Jacket from Patagonia.

The R3 Hi-Loft features new Polartec® Thermal Pro® fabric that’s 30% warmer than the previous R3. The open-mesh stitch of the fabric promotes compressibility, increases airflow and minimizes weight, while the new addition of Polartec® Power Stretch® on the side panels allows the jacket to move any way you do. MSRP is $179.

For a chance to win this R3 Hi-Loft, all you have to do is leave a relevant comment on this post (like, “The R3 is awesome and I wanna win it”). On Tuesday, we’ll pick a random winner from all the comments.

We think this is a pretty cool opportunity to get a free R3, a full six months before it’s available to buy.

Big disclaimer: The sample size is men’s medium and that’s all we’ve got. Same thing for the color. There are no exchanges or returns! Did we mention it’s mango!

Good luck.

Company: The North Face Product: Men’s Kishtwar Jacket Hall/Booth: B6.101 Web: www.thenorthface.com

Outdoor sports can become a true challenge if the weather does not cooperate. Ice rain, snow storms, wind gusts not only batter the athletes but also his or her sports apparel. The North Face promises the perfect combination of ventilation and protection against the weather with its “Kishtwar Jacket” – thanks to the new Polartec Power Shield Pro. The materials is 99% wind-proof, the remaining percent circulates in the membrane and supports active moisture wicking. In addition the jacket’s outer material is extremely wear- and water-resistant. Jury Statement: The most prominent feature of the men’s Kishtwar jacket is the use of the new Polartec Power Shield Pro material. This new technology ensures the highest degree of breathability with optimum wind protection for outdoor sports enthusiasts. The product is perfected with a well-though-out design and extremely well finished.

	Company: Patagonia Product: W´s R3 HiLoft Hoody Hall/Booth: A1.315D / B5.110 Web: www.patagonia.com
The fleece jacket  “W´s R3 HiLoft” is one of many eco-friendly products manufactured by the Canadians (ed. note I think they mean Californians not Canadians, close enough, right?) : it is made almost entirely of recycled and recyclable Polartec materials. In addition, the light weight, warm jacket is bluesign certified. This means that the production process was evaluated to determine the use of resources, level of consumer protection, water and air pollution, and working conditions. The jury was not only impressed by the jacket , but also by Patagonia’s long-time continuing, successful overall concept. Jury Statement: For many years Patagonia has been proof that a sustainable overall concept for the entire production chain is feasible. The R3 HiLoft Jacket is no exception and impressed us with its high degree of function, well-though-out design, and excellent solutions for sustainable production.

These awards are a tremendous honor for The North Face, Patagonia and Polartec and an awesome way for us to kick-start the largest outdoor tradeshow of the year.

(P.S. If you want to completely derail your productivity for the day, surf over to the ispo Brand New awards – so many drool-worthy products).

With your help, Polartec® is donating 1,000 fleece blankets to the homeless this holiday season.

For every 10 new fans added to our Facebook Fan Page, Polartec® will donate one fleece blanket to a homeless shelter. We will donate 100 blankets to shelters in the top ten US cities where our fans live, so encourage your friends to become a fan of Polartec® and help someone less fortunate in your hometown.

The blankets we are donating are made from Polartec® Thermal Pro® fabric so they are incredibly warm, soft and durable.

The promotion will start on December 22, 2009 and end at midnight EST on January 4, 2010.  Become a fan here. Please pass this along!

Thanks, and Happy Holidays from your friends at Polartec!

Core Concepts Plush Pullover
Featuring Polartec® Thermal Pro® fabric, the Plush Pullover from Core Concepts provides lightweight, moisture-wicking warmth, making it the perfect insulation layer no matter what you’re doing – whether it’s a double diamond ski run or a double tall latte. MSPR $80.