Experiment 405 - Acottondown 45 Cowlvest

A new approach to down made by combining two innovative Italian materials, Acrispcotton and Thindown Recycled. By combining the two we are able to rethink both how down garments are made and the way they feel when they are worn.

If you think about the difference between sleeping under a down blanket versus a sleeping bag, Acottondown brings the quiet comfort of a down duvet to a world of loud down jackets built like sleeping bags.

Traditional down jacket construction requires downproof fabric, generally this means nylon or polyester that has been calendarized, a process of melting and pressing the fabric to fill the holes between the yarns. This prevents the down fill from escaping but also prevents air and moisture from escaping, making down jackets prone to overheating and turning into clammy sweatboxes. By using Thindown's innovative down fabric rather than loose down and Albini's extremely compact Acrispcotton poplin instead of nylon or polyester we are able to create a down that warms without overheating and breathes extremely well to create the driest possible warmth.

Thindown is the world's first "down fabric", the first down to be available as a roll-good capable of being cut and sewn like fabric, rather than being blown like traditional loose down. Better yet their Thindown Recycled product is a true 100% *post-consumer* recycled product, a rarity in the textile world where recycled almost always means reusing industrial waste. Thindown recycled uses down from used pillows, duvets and jackets to actually extend the lifecycle of these materials. More importantly from Outlier's perspective we realized this new way of approaching down allowed for down garments to be made with non-downproof fabrics allowing us to create a more breathable down material.

Acrispcotton is an extremely light and compact cotton fabric made using only Giza 87, an extra long staple Egyptian cotton of exceptional fineness and brightness, grown under Albini's direct control in the Nile delta. Before developing the Acrsipcotton fabric though, Albini first had to develop an extraordinarily fine 120 singles yarn. These yarns are woven together with 100 single yarns to create a "high-definition" fabric that weighs only 90gsm yet is exceptionally soft and durable. More importantly though it is a tight enough weave that when combined with Thindown it minimizes down leakage while allowing for genuine airflow.

By combining these two materials the result is a new way to approach down. A drier and more breathable warmth. A post-coital sort of glowing warmth. A warmth without overheating, Outlier Acottondown.

Available in two weights, the lightweight Acottondown 45 and midweight Acottondown 80.