Workman held a presentation of new products for fall/winter 2024 in Tokyo on August 26. At the same time, the company started accepting reservations for the “XShelter” series of products, which are wear that uses heat-insulating sheets, through its official online store.
In addition to functional clothing, which is the company’s forte, for fall/winter 2024, the company intends to take the next step by strengthening “beautiful” casual wear for women and “adult casual” wear for men, in order to capture the needs of a wide range of customers by enabling them to link up with each other in out-of-doors activities that have been impossible until now.
Tetsuo Tsuchiya, the company’s senior managing director, took the stage at the presentation of the new material, XShelter, and introduced the series.
XShelter combines a proprietary heat-insulating sheet and light-absorbing, heat-generating wadding. The sheet of proprietary material with an independent air bubble ratio of 95% or higher blocks outside air and maintains the environment inside the garment at a temperature (31-33°C) and humidity (40-50%) that humans find most comfortable. Because it shuts out the external environment, this “sensation-free” garment does not allow the wearer to feel hot or cold. A thermometer is attached to the inside of the garment to check if the temperature is kept at a comfortable level.
The lineup includes “Insulated Jacket” (3,900 yen), “Insulated Pants” (2,900 yen), “Insulated Vest” (2,900 yen), “Insulated Waterproof Warm Jacket” (5,800 yen), “Insulated Aegis Premium Waterproof Warm Suit” (top and bottom set 9,800 yen), “Insulated Scarf” (980 yen), “Insulated Women’s Waterproof Warm Outerwear” (4,900 yen), “Insulated Moving Shrug” (9,800 yen).
The insulated ladies’ waterproof warm outerwear and insulated moving shrug will be available exclusively on the official online site.
In the exhibition booth, there was an experimental corner where visitors could experience the performance of the heat-insulating sheets. In an experiment in which visitors touched a medium-temperature iron with mittens made of the insulation sheet, they were able to touch the iron for several seconds without feeling the heat, even though the temperature would immediately cause burns if they touched it with their bare hands. Incidentally, the insulation sheet is very thin, about 1 mm thick.
Furthermore, in an experiment in which ice was placed on a hot plate heated to the temperature at which water boils, a common nylon fabric and an insulating sheet were placed on the hot plate, and ice was placed on top of the nylon fabric, a considerable difference was observed in the melting of the ice. The nylon fabric began to melt as soon as the ice was placed on it, while the insulation sheet showed almost no change in the ice.
This series not only provides heat insulation but also water repellency. At the venue, visitors could experience the freezing room at minus 20 degrees Celsius and experience torrential rain by reservation only.
The reporter reserved a torrential rain experience to try XShelter’s Insulated Aegis Premium Waterproof Winter Suit, which has a water pressure resistance of 15,000 mm and a moisture permeability of 30,000 g/m2/24h.
The thick fabric looks hot, but when I put it on, I did not feel as hot as it looks. Also, thanks to the thick fabric, there was almost no sensation of being hit by rain, only a slight vibration, and together with the sound of water hitting the hood, I felt as if I were holding an umbrella.
Note that the hood was quite large in size and covered the face completely, so no water splashed on the face during the experience.
During the experience, the water was falling for about one minute, but when it hit the clothes, the droplets flowed away in beads and did not seem to increase the humidity in the clothes. When I brushed off the remaining water droplets after wearing the garment, there was almost no staining.
The company plans to sell 200,000 items in the first year and 1 billion yen in sales, and this is the first time it has introduced such a large number of new products.
© Source travel watch
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