Earlier this year at the outdoor tradeshow ISPO we met two ambitious jong Dutch guys ready to take on the outdoor clothing industry. Born in a country with no mountains whatsoever, hardly any snow, they still thought they could change and improve the outer wear industry. Their passion as skiers and snowboarders and the simple wish to produce a really good and affordable powder jacket for those very intensive powder days. We had a short feel of the jacket at ISPO and I put on the jacket at that time. The material felt really robust on the outside (a real shell) and I remember the jacket feeling kind of slim-baggy. That’s what the pants look like as well. The relaxed and cool look, but not too baggy to be annoying. The colours are subdued and subtle. Recently their kick starter campaign was quite the success and the guys are taking pre-orders now of their Open One Series. Time for a quick preview: So how are they different? The first things is that the production of their 3L shell jackets and pants are made of 100% recycled PET bottles, and boast a waterproofness of 45000 mm with a breathability rating of under 0.5 ReT. Besides that, Open Wear has decided to forego on distributors, agents, and retailers. Cutting out the proverbial middle-man and offering their gear more cost-effectively direct to you as a consumer. The shell jackets for women and men can be pre-ordered at € 310 and the pants come in at € 249. If the gear is as good as they claim, Open Wear can really be a contender, seeing as price levels of other 3 layer jackets of major brands will retail at almost or more than double (if outfitted with the Gore-Tex Pro membrane). We hope to be able to review some of this interesting new wear soon and see if it delivers on its promises. For more information and pre-orders check out the Open Wear website.