Where does it go? Performance Outerwear Edition

A new adventure for your old outerwear

Whether you’ve lived in the Pacific Northwest your whole life or moved here recently, chances are you have a strong relationship with performance outerwear. Rain jackets, ski shells, fleeces of every size/shape/color, and more fill our closets, car trunks, mudrooms, and garages. For many of us, outerwear carries a visceral memory of adventure - a hike up a mountain that was just a few miles longer than expected, or sunset watching from the beach that was 100% worth the whipping wind and “light mist” rain storm.  

While these products are well-made and engineered to last - and many will serve several rounds of hand-me-down, when something does finally rip or a seam gives way, what looks like small amounts of damage can result in major functional issues (anyone who has discovered a hole in their hood in the middle of a downpour knows this all too well).  

Ridwell has partnered with ReFleece to give outerwear that is ready for retirement a second act. ReFleece was founded in 2012 by Sam Palmer and Jennifer Feller, a husband-wife team committed to great design and sustainability. The goal of ReFleece is to help reduce the 13 million tons (!!) of American textile waste that end up in landfills every year, and to inspire businesses and individuals to value and seek out reuse and upcycling opportunities.

ReFleece makes useful, well-designed products from “used up” performance outerwear they receive from partners like Patagonia, Polartec, and Arc’teryx. All of ReFleece’s low-impact manufacturing process happens in the US - mostly in their (snowy) headquarters in Massachusetts - a region that also appreciates high performance outerwear.

ReFleece workers die-cut directly from the garments they receive, maximizing the amount of material they can salvage from each piece. A single jacket will typically yield multiple ReFleece products like pouches, Kindle covers, and tablet sleeves.  

Our partnership with ReFleece is a great example of the opportunities made possible by our members. Ridwell gains access to great, like-minded companies like ReFleece because we can collect the materials they need in large quantities, and our members ensure that we provide exactly what is needed, free from contaminants or other issues.