The Fall 08 preshow season is well under way and we have some great feedback on the line so far. The colors have been getting great feedback so far, with a strong fall palette in both men's and women's. So what is new?



*Pricepoint Gore and Membrain shells as well as new components with upgraded shell fabric

*A new Eco-Story piece in every category

*Updated Softshell collection

*Expanded Insulation for Men and some new trend pieces for women

*A new Wool Tech program with boiled wool and recycled wool in lieu of sportswear

*New wool baselayer with our Cocona material- a Marmot fabric exclusive!!

*An expanded kids line

*A New glove collection- total overhaul on the glove offering

*A Back-to-School bag program with a 58% margin!



COLORS:

Strongest colors for men: Twilight/Tempest/Northsea combinations are great

Terra/Raven and Inca/Raven are beautiful, rich colors

The Forest/Dk Cedar/Hedge combos are going over well

Fire/Cardinal is carryover and still very strong



Color concerns: The terra/bonfire is not as strong in the softshell



Strongest colors for women: Auburn/Kashmir is a nice, bright fall red/orange

Port/Espresso/Cinnamon/Raven are all great rich fall colors

Wasabi is a nice fall green and Chive is strong again

Southsea is replaced by a greyer blue in Oasis for fall

***note: Espresso is more of a port, not a brown. The rich brown for fall is Raven



Shell Highlights:

- The Exum just won National Geography's 2008 "Best of Adventure Gear" award and also is the best selling Gore piece in our 30+ year partnership with Gore

- The Torre is a full stretch PRO shell (*note- the workbook does not show that this is PRO, but it is)-great contrast stitch as well

- The Palisades will show up on our favorites list- it is a Zippin compatible Gore piece for under $300!

- The Storm Front is our new Membrain shell for under $200! It is a great face fabric and mesh venting panels on the inside.

- The Men's and Women's Components were upgraded from PreCip face fabric to Membrain, for just a minor price increase (*Note: the M's Ridgetop Comp. is the only place in the Men's line with a fleece component piece)



Softshell Highlights:

- Sharp Point is still our #1 selling and the Gravity is still our #2

- The Moran jacket is last year's Snaz, which is a great Polartec 4-way stretch softshell built on the same lines as the Super Hero- great success here

- The Kingpin is the Moran with a fixed hood and pit zips, a great addition to the line

- The Super Hero's hood switched from PreCip to softshell

- The Andromeda is a Windpro piece that has a printed Jacquard fleece on the inside- beautiful

- The Ultima jacket is a lighter weight softshell that is UpCycle fabric with a Cocona lining

- W's Snazette has been gaining success and we added the Reyna, the fixed hood piece, in the women's category

- W's Janna is our women's UpCycle piece, light weight and beautiful lines

- The furlong has an amazing update this season with a fully lined, updated faux fur that looks and feels like rabbit. We also took the fur off of the cuffs and hem, and added a vest...all strong colors, great new jacket!

Insulation: 11 new designs here!
- The Iceland Jacket is an urban inspired, mountain quality down piece with 800 fill and urban storage pockets

- The Zeus is one we are VERY excited about. This is the component to the W's Venus, the 800 fill light down sweater is amazing in all colors!
- The Ellsworth Jacket is last year's flurry with a fixed hood and two way zipper
- The Ace Jacket is a bomber style jacket with Membrain face fabric and a great pocket set
- The W's Chelsea is a long, down piece with zip off fur/zip off hood design. Great canvas texture to face fabric
- W's Ignition is last year's Mountain down with great fashion friendly style lines
- W's Allure is a Primaloft Sport piece with softshell around the bottom, a great sporty synthetic piece
- W's St. Mortiz is a synthetic quilted casual jacket with fixed fur (*note: the fur on the black and espresso will be black)
- Going on the success of the Kitzbuhel vest, we added a Kitzbuhel jacket in great colors!
*note: some start dates are later (9/15/08)

Fleece:
- The Torrid is a hardface power stretch piece, great tech jacket and layering piece
- The Exergy jacket is a 64% wool/poly blend that is really resonating this season. A great full zip wool piece
- The Taos is a Polartec Wind Pro shell with a Sherpa lined collar- very stylish and functional!
- W's Carabella Hoody is like the Men's Exergy, with a wool/poly blend. However, here we get a reversible piece with a great soft knit print
- The W's Flair hoody and jacket is a super soft plush velour fleece...super yummy!

Wool:
- The first two Men's styles, the Davos and Saxon, are boiled wool pieces for a thicker, less pilling piece- great colors and texture
- The Geo is a 9 gauge half zip with contrast stitch- this piece marks the start of our recycled wool story
- The Ozero is a 14 gauge crewneck with contrast stitch
- The Hemlock is a boiled wool Women's piece, similar to the Davos
- The W's Isa is one of our favorite pieces for fall. It is a 9 gauge hoody with thumbholes and exaggerated ribbing- super cute!
- The W's Nara is a half zip version of the hoody, with 3 inch side zips
- The Vars is a 14 gauge half zip with contrast stitching...a favorite!

Snowsports: all ships here start 9/15/08
This year, texture is the thing in snowsports! Each component is not only has a tactile, but also visual texture as well. Jackets are equipped with the ski feature set: zip off powder skirt, goggle and ipod pocket and removable hood. All pants are going to be a looser cut in general to accommodate the trend.
- Tower 8 is a crosshatch pattern with full zip out Marmaloft liner
- Sidewall is a herringbone texture with two tone liner and a matching pant- also comes in a fixed insulation piece
- Gunsight is a heavy canvas texture (think Carhartt) with a lighter liner-also a fixed insulation piece here
- Spellbound is a component with a vest- unlike in the Women's, the men's does not have insulation in the sleeves- also no zip off powder skirt here
- Cargo pant is still our #1 selling pant
- W's Starlet is a down bomber style jacket with fixed powder skirt and great "tv static" pattern!
- W's Shooting Star is a linen like fabric with a cute synthetic liner
- W's West Run is a great textured fabric with contrast stitching and the plush velour fleece liner- such a cuddly sumptuous piece!
- #1 selling pant here is the W's Insulated Chamonix Pant, the Glade softshell is a great one as well

Baselayer:
The baselayer program gets an update this season with the addition of the wool/cocona layers. This amazing product is a wool face fabric, cocona lined piece that wicks and dries 25% faster, has a natural UPF of 40+ and has a permanent, rechargable anti-order. For this and the rest of our baselayer, we are heavily invested in this program and will continue to have a great inventory. If you are in need of baselayer now, we have stock available!

Kids:
First note here is that all kid's styles are available from XS-XL (XS-4-5; S-6-7; M- 8; L-10; XL-12)
We expanded this category to include a couple of snowsports pieces, a down piece and a few new fleece pieces. We also have 3 waterproof/breathable gloves/mitts for the little ones ranging from $18-30!

That is the rundown. Obviously nothing beats a showing, so we look forward to seeing you all at OR/SIA/ORA...but until then, get your orders in!