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Sponsor // The International Winners of the Polartec Apex Awards, the Future of Outerwear Design

A descendent of a century-old old New England mill, Polartec earned its outdoor cred as the inventor of the original synthetic fleece that we’ve all loved to hate since its introduction in the 1980s. Today, Polartec is the inventor of performance fabrics that breathe, regulate temperature, resist fire, and can even originate from recycled plastic bottles.

While Polartec pushes the boundaries of fabric science, they rely on the inspiration of designers and developers to realize the beautiful shapes their fabrics can truly become. For nearly 20 years, the Polartec Apex Awards recognizes this collaboration by honoring the design teams who utilize Polartec fabrics to push boundaries and usher in the future of outerwear design.

To announce the 2016 winners, Polartec enlisted the help of specially designed android mannequins and the photography of Portland, Oregon-based photographer Chris Hornbecker. Together with a team of veteran character and special effect artists, fabricators, digital artists, and stylists, Hornbecker’s energetic and emotional photography transforms mortal figures into futuristic models in order to highlight the forward-looking outerwear design of the Apex-winning garments.

This year’s six International Apex Award Winners hail from France, Germany, Japan, Russia, Spain, and the United Kingdom. They include:

   — Black Crows | Women’s Corpus Polartec Jacket, designed by Camille Kunz
   — Eric Bompard |Camionneur Pull Homme, designed by Lucile Léorat
   — Red Fox | Sleeping Bag-Backpack Alpha, designed by Zoya Spirina
   — Salewa | Pedroc PTC Alpha Jacket, designed by Dennis Hinze
   — Joseph Abboud | Memory Men’s Coat, designed by Toshiko IIJima
   — Rapha | Brevet Insulated Gilet, designed by the Rapha Design Team

Learn more about the Polartec Apex Awards, and this year’s winners, at Apex.polartec.com.

This post was sponsored by Polartec.