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ispo winter 2009
ispo 09 took place over four days at the beginning of February and was, as ever, absolutely spectacular. The organisation, the show itself, the venue - everything is on such a huge scale that one almost wants a whole week to see everything. With that in mind, this is just a 'potted highlights' as to cover everything would need the whole issue.
UK retailers reportedly attended the four days in decent numbers, which comes as a surprise considering the absolute slump of the Pound against the Euro in the months building up to ispo. One manufacturer, possibly with this in mind, told SGB that they had actually seen all of their customers with new product before ispo, so it was irrelevant to them if their UK stockists attended the Munich show or not. It's always best to have those bases covered... But if that's a manufacturer's stance, it might weaken ispo in coming years as far as UK attendances go.
While ispo is largely a winter sports show, there's a reasonably large outdoor section to it and plenty of big-name and smaller brands attended.
Granger's introduced its sexily-named G-Max Universal Waterproofer at the show, a product which works on all materials including full grain leather, Nubuck, suede and fabric footwear. Quick and easy spray application means this has huge appeal and could become their core product in short order.
Epic by Nextec was in BrandNew, and it's a windproof, rainproof, breathable and air permeable fabric; the makers say there's no other fabric like it as water will not penetrate the garment, and airflow remains. The EPIC process wraps the fibres inside the fabric, the yarns are encapsulated and the air spaces filled with a fine layer of silicone polymer. The face of the fabric is left exposed keeping the original touch and look - the process even strengthens the fabric - and is permanent and washable.
Lowe Alpine had a few stories to tell on their stand, including their AW09 clothing collection which, the company says, re-affirms the values they are renowned for.
New for 2009 is Triplepoint Dynamic, a new version of Lowe Alpine's famous waterproof/breathable fabric using ceramic technology in a laminated construction.
Odlo's stand incorporated their entire range, it seemed, but the most attractive area for SGB was their superior base layers. Superbly made, great designs, practical - what's not to love about them? They also had a shooting competition for people to try, which was great fun.
Crux, now distributed in the UK by North Wales-based DMM, makes 'serious' mountaineering clothing, and they presented plenty of new gear to customers. This included the Shok Jacket and Pant, plus the mid-layer Halo Top, which sports a new ultra-lightweight 10 denier fabric and a higher grade of down fill-power.
Timex were exhibiting for the first time at ispo, showing that they take their position in the outdoor market very seriously. They showed their new WS4, which basically means 'widescreen 4', a handsome, wide format, large-face watch with four main functions on one display. They are an altimeter, a barometer, a compass and a thermometer. Unlike most watches, on this you can see all four functions at a glance thanks to the huge face. Timex has made a great-looking watch that will appeal to a whole new market for the company.
Anatom had their wonderful Superfeet and TEKO socks on show. Superfeet were showing their new insoles, primarily for winter use. They are impregnated with OutLast, a phase change material which can absorb and store energy from the body - in this case, heat - and give it back to the body when you cool down.
Patagonia had some great stories for customers, but then don't they always? They were showing their new Speed Ascent jacket and pants, which they say are their warmest soft shells for cold-weather adventuring, with recycled and recyclable content. There was a lot more, which we don't have space for - but suffice to say they're sticking firmly to their environmental message, which means not using bamboo, and recycling materials wherever possible.
Keen also have an environmental message (bags made out of leftover packaging, for example!), and a raft of fantastic product. Everyone is familiar with their super-comfortable sandals, but their bags are absolutely superb and come with a strong environmental story too.
Berghaus, another huge name in the outdoors, has incorporated d3O's wonder-stuff in one of its backpacks to make a section to protect the spine; the material is soft and almost spongy to a normal touch, but hit it at speed or with force and it's like stone. Hopefully we'll see more of this incorporated into backpack and even clothing designs before too long, but kudos to Berghaus for this step.
