Arc’teryx is a high price point outdoor-wear company based in Vancouver, British Columbia with a strong focus on durability, weather-resistance, and overall finest quality.  The name stands for Archaeopteryx Lithographica, the first reptile to develop feather for flight, freeing itself from the constraints of the horizontal world.  Their apparel is designed to meet the needs of the most demanding of athletes from alpine climbers to big mountain skiers to long distance runners and hikers.  The garments are meant to last several years.  This is one goal of the company to help them become more envioronmentally-aware since they have not yet been able to find renewable sources of materials that will perform the same way their current materials do.
 

They use materials and technology such as Gore-Tex Pro Shell, Windstopper, Coreloft and Thermoloft insulation, Polartec, Merino Wool, and Watertight zippers.  Their design tends to ignore trends and focus on technical aspects.  They’ve developed their own face fabric called N80P-X that is exclusive of the brand and prevents “wet out”, a dangerous condition athletes experience in rain or snow, water-logging the face fabric of their garments, decreasing breathability and amplifying heat loss.

In this project, I tried to reflect the brand by using a powerful and sophisticated aesthetic with basic silhouettes and mixing neutral colors with bright accents.  I had to learn some of their style lines, which are curved and support range of motion. I introduced a down sweater jacket known for its warmth and compressibility.  I also created a hybrid jacket mixing both their hardfleece and softfleece materials.