To take on the fight against plastic waste in the apparel industry, outdoor brand Houdini, in collaboration with leading fabric technology brand Polartec is making their award-winning fleece jacket ”Mono Air Houdi” open-source – available for basement designers or billion dollar brands to copy.

For the past decade, Swedish outdoor company Houdini has been a sustainability pioneer within the apparel industry, challenging the way outdoor apparel is designed, produced and used. To go one step further in making the clothing industry sustainable, the brand is now introducing Project Mono Air – a unique, open-source initiative where all the work behind their latest innovation, the Mono Air fleece jacket, is shared online. On the Project Mono Air website anyone can download a complete run-down of the garment’s components – from stitching patterns, to fabric technology, right down to the last button. One can also follow every design decision, learn about the fabric technology and explore the circular design principles that lay the foundation for all Houdini garments.

The goal behind the initiative is to help the apparel industry become circular and waste-free, a vision that means a big transformation and will require considerable collaboration.

”The apparel industry is advancing when it comes to sustainable solutions, which is great. But we need to speed up the pace. The insight that sparked the idea of Project Mono Air was that if we want to really change the industry for the better, we can’t keep our innovations and discoveries to ourselves. If we all share the problem, why not also share the solutions? One garment is not going to solve the problem, but we hope it can be one step on the way. Hopefully, we can make this initiative echo even beyond the textile industry”, says Eva Karlsson, CEO at Houdini.

The Mono Air Houdi, which was first revealed in January and awarded gold at the prestigious ISPO Awards, was created by Houdini and Polartec® to address the issue of plastic and textile waste on a larger scale. The garment is completely circular, made from mono materials and engineered to reduce microfiber shedding by 80%. This means a significantly reduced risk of microplastic waste ending up in the ocean. By making the innovation open-source, the hope is that other brands will embrace and implement a circular approach to design.

“Polartec® Power Air™ is a step forward in reducing the environmental impact of what we make and wear,” says Steve Layton, President of Polartec®. This groundbreaking technology can be a real enabler for circularity. It’s processes and constructions like these, which make circularity possible. And it’s designs like Houdini’s which help show the world how clothing can be made sustainably.”

”The biggest challenge for all brands working with circularity is to design products that are sustainable without compromising on durability and performance. This is what we have been able to solve with the Mono Air. The goal with the open-source project is not to create identical copies of the Mono Air, but to let the work behind it become useful in the development of new products. If this can lead to new circular breakthroughs in the fashion industry – be it in the hands of a basement designer or billion dollar brand – we are on the right path” says Jesper Danielsson, Head of Design and Innovation at Houdini.

About the Mono Air fleece jacket

Mono Air Houdi was born out of a desire to address the issue of plastic and textile waste on a larger scale. Developed with Houdini’s innovation partner Polartec®, this circular innovation is made from recycled polyester, is fully recyclable and designed to reduce microfiber shedding by up to 80% compared to conventional high-quality fleece.

The Polartec® Power Air™ fabric is engineered to trap air in small pockets constructed only by mono material filament fibers. This way, the level of insulation is kept, but the microfiber shedding is radically reduced. The name ”Mono Air” refers to jacket’s mono material design.

Mono Air Houdi is a four season insulation garment for all types of outdoor sports. The light, stretchy garment provides great insulation and the smooth, breathable fabric is ideal for layering. The field testing of Mono Air Houdi has proven it’s worth for everything from backcountry skiing to rock climbing.

The Mono Air will be available in stores second week of October and available for anyone to buy or copy in order to support the quest for a waste-free world.

INFO: Polartec