This week’s giveaway is the Marmot Variant Jacket- Men’s Size Medium ONLY

The Variant has a unique and innovative hybrid construction that features an insulated front-panel for core warmth and Polartec® Power Stretch® panels on the side, back and sleeves for maximum mobility and breathability. The multi-purpose design ensures maximum comfort as a stand-alone piece for aerobic activities or fits comfortably under a shell as an insulating mid-layer. The Polartec® Power Stretch® fabric works to whisk perspiration away from your skin providing the performance you demand, while integrated design details, such as zippered hand pockets, thumbholes and reflective accents, give you the fit and features you need. MSRP: $140

To WIN YOU MUST:1) Head to the Polartec Facebook Page and ‘Like’ us
2) Find this giveaway post
3) In a comment below the post, list one of your first Polartec garments. We will choose a winner at random on Wednesday Aug. 4th at 8am.

Big disclaimer: The sample size is MEN’S MEDIUM in black or blue and that’s all we’ve got. There are no exchanges or returns.

Thanks so much and good luck!

This week’s giveaway is the Canada Goose Tremblant Pullover- Women’s Medium Black.

For days when it’s too warm for a down jacket but too cool for simply a sweater, the Tremblant Pullover from Canada Goose features Polartec® Power Shield® O2 fabric for an ideal combination of weather protection and breathability. The Tremblant also has a super-soft fleece lined hood, reflective detailing, stretch cuff gussets and a front drop-in pocket with hand-warmer pouches. This technical yet stylish piece will keep you comfortable skiing in fresh powder, snowshoeing in a winter wonderland or cruising about your favorite ski town. MSRP: $300

To WIN: tell us why you need this jacket in TEN WORDS OR LESS in a comment on the Polartec Facebook Page giveaway post and we will choose a winner.

Big disclaimer: The sample size is women’s medium in black and that’s all we’ve got. There are no exchanges or returns.

Thanks so much and good luck!

In late April, Kent State University’s New York Design Studio held its tenth annual edition of “Stretch to the Future,” one of the longest-running fashion design competitions sponsored by a fiber company. Created in 1999, the “Stretch to the Future” Design Scholarship Competition inspires the creative development of design students while educating them about the technical aspects of garment construction using fashion fabrics containing a highly technical fiber.

This year’s winners were selected from a field of 51 students — 20 more than last year’s entrants. The students competed with garments designed in stretch fabrics containing RadiciSpandex RadElast® spandex donated by Polartec and a number of other fabric manufacturers.

The contest was judged by a panel of industry experts, headed up by Jeffrey Chow, Creative Director for contemporary womenswear label Poleci and also included members of the charitable organization The Underfashion Club (UFC), which returned for a third year as sponsor of the contest’s lingerie award. The judging panel selected scholarship winners in the categories of eveningwear, activewear, swimwear, lingerie and an overall grand prize.

Both the activewear and lingerie category were won with Polartec fabrics. Bethany Clark won the activewear category, and Phillip Fry emerged as the lingerie category winner with a bra-and-panty set featuring a combination of Polartec and TBD Tecidos fabric. Check out the winning garments below.

Our very own Global Director of Design, Allison Spahr, also had a seat on the judging panel alongside other industry experts. Although a spot on Project Runway’s celebrity judging panel may be a long way off, we have Allison practicing her Heidi Klum attitude and “auf wiedersehens” just in case. Congratulations to the winners of this year’s competition!

Okay, they’re not all naked now, but they could be, without some help. Through a donation of Polartec® Classic Micro® fabric, Polartec is helping Montane raise money for Mountain Rescue, the national coordinating body for volunteer search and rescue teams in England and Wales. Mountain Rescue relies upon donations for 100% of their funding, so Montane has produced the special edition Polartec® Chukchi Shirt made from Polartec® Classic Micro® fleece, available for purchase at the Outdoors Show March 26-28 in Birmingham NEC or on montane.co.uk for £35. Montane will donate over half of the proceeds to help fund Mountain Rescue efforts. This is your chance to aquire a limited edition Spring garment and support a great cause at the same time.

For a chance to win, all you have to do is add a comment to this post. Next week, we’ll pick a random winner from all the comments.

Disclaimer: the sample size is men’s medium, the color is dark shadow, and the production version that is released in the Fall may be slightly different than this sample.

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.

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!

Running the 4-miles and 1,500 feet up to our house.

It is finally feeling like winter and this weekend reminded me why I love Colorado so much. I spent much of my weekend teaching Juniper how to ski which has been one of the most fun and rewarding things I have done in a long time. The kid truly loves it and is able to ski all alone down short beginner slopes. Watching her learn and have so much fun is such an amazing experience as a mother.

Mixed in with the skiing, I was able to get out for a run and a skin to test out a new Polartec fabric. So far I have been very impressed and am excited to get out more to continue to put it to the test.

I continue to feel well and fit even as I’m at five and a half months pregnant. It’s a relief to be able to get out to clear my mind and do what I love.

Elinor, Sari & Wendy ready to skin in some fresh snow!

Check out more Vaute Couture here and the Treehugger.com story here.