 | |
| Type | LLC |
|---|---|
| Founded | Woodstock, Vermont, U.S. (1997) |
| Founder | Peter Helmetag John Fernsell |
| Headquarters | White River Junction, Vermont , |
| Website | http://www.ibex.com |
Ibex Outdoor Clothing, LLC is a producer of wool clothing designed for outdoor use sold through a website and retailers. For the year 2001 Ibex made US$1.5 million in sales, [1] and by 2012 had reached US$12 million in sales. [2] Between 2014 and 2017 sales averaged US$20 Million. [3]
The company began when Peter Helmetag and John Fernsell met in 1997. Fernsell said “Everything looked the same and didn’t work. It was all either Gore-Tex or polyester fleece.” [4] In December 2017, Ibex announced that it would be shutting down its operations in February 2018 after the company's struggles in the outdoor market which led to the company laying off a third of its staff in November. [5]
In October 2019, Ibex relaunched as an online-only store, under the ownership of Flour Fund, which purchased the brand in early 2018, and the direction of Bonnie Shupe, and is now based in Boulder, Colorado. [6] [7]
Ibex uses wool as the primary fabric for all its clothing, citing its ability to regulate temperature, anti-microbial properties, ability to wick away sweat, and its resistance to wear. [8] Merino wool is often used for lighter-weight or casual products, while coarser wool is used for outerwear, such as jackets, vests, often with a Merino lining.
Ibex uses Vermont CVPS Cow Power to generate electricity in a sustainable fashion. According to Business Wire, Ibex consumed over 36,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity in cow power over the year 2005–2006. [9]
Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other animals, including cashmere and mohair from goats, qiviut from muskoxen, hide and fur clothing from bison, angora from rabbits, and other types of wool from camelids.
Penney OpCo, LLC, doing business as JCPenney and abbreviated JCP, is an American department store chain with 669 locations across 49 U.S. states and Puerto Rico; as of 2003, Hawaii is the only state where the company is without a presence. Departments inside JCPenney stores include Womens, Mens, Kids, Home, Fine Jewelry, Shoes, Lingerie, The Salon by InStyle, Sephora inside JCPenney, and several leased departments such as Seattle's Best Coffee, US Vision optical centers, and Lifetouch portrait studios.
Vermont Yankee was an electricity generating nuclear power plant, located in the town of Vernon, Vermont, in the northeastern United States. It generated 620 megawatts (MWe) of electricity at full power. The plant was a boiling water reactor (BWR), designed by General Electric. It operated from 1972 until December 29, 2014, when its owner Entergy shut down the plant. In 2008, the plant provided 71.8% of all electricity generated within Vermont, amounting to 35% of Vermont's electricity consumption. The plant is on the Connecticut River, upstream of the Vernon, Vermont Hydroelectric Dam and used the reservoir pool for its cooling water.
The Merino is a breed or group of breeds of domestic sheep, characterised by very fine soft wool. It was established in Spain near the end of the Middle Ages, and was for several centuries kept as a strict Spanish monopoly; exports of the breed were not allowed, and those who tried risked the death penalty. During the eighteenth century, flocks were sent to the courts of a number of European countries, including France, Hungary, the Netherlands, Prussia, Saxony and Sweden. The Merino subsequently spread to many parts of the world, including South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. Numerous recognised breeds, strains and variants have developed from the original type; these include, among others, the American Merino and Delaine Merino in the Americas, the Australian Merino, Booroola Merino and Peppin Merino in Oceania, the Gentile di Puglia, Merinolandschaf and Rambouillet in Europe.
Recreational Equipment, Inc., commonly known as REI, is an American retail and outdoor recreation services corporation. It is organized as a consumers' co-operative. REI sells sports equipment, camping gear, travel equipment, and clothing. It also offers services such as outdoor-oriented vacations and courses.
VF Corporation is an American global apparel and footwear company founded in 1899 and headquartered in Denver, Colorado. The company's 13 brands are organized into three categories: Outdoor, Active and Work. The company controls 55% of the U.S. backpack market with the JanSport, Eastpak, Timberland, and North Face brands.
Forever 21, stylized as FOREVER 21, is an American fast fashion retailer headquartered in Los Angeles, California. Forever 21 began as the store called Fashion 21 with 900 square feet (84 m2) in Highland Park, Los Angeles, in 1984, and has grown into the clothing lines Forever 21, XXI Forever, Love 21 and Heritage with over 700 stores in the Americas, Asia, the Middle East and the UK.
Patagonia, Inc. is an American retailer of outdoor clothing. It was founded by Yvon Chouinard in 1973 and is based in Ventura, California.
Icebreaker is a merino wool outdoor and natural performance outdoor clothing brand headquartered in Auckland, New Zealand. It was purchased by VF Corporation, a NYSE listed entity in 2018. Icebreaker was conceived and designed around the philosophy of sustainability, using natural fibres, environmental and social ethics, and animal welfare. The company began by specialising in the creation of merino base layers and now offers underwear, mid layers, outer wear, socks and accessories based on natural fibers.
Layered clothing is a term describing a way of dressing using many garments that are worn on top of each other. Some of the layers have different, largely non-overlapping, functions. Using more or fewer layers, or replacing one layer but not others, allows for flexible clothing to match the needs of each situation. Two thin layers can be warmer yet lighter than one thick layer, because the air trapped between layers serves as thermal insulation. Layered clothing is particularly relevant in cold climates, where clothing must at the same time transfer moisture, provide warmth, and protect from wind and rain. In a hot and dry climate, clothes have very different functional requirements: they must block the radiation from the sun, and allow for sufficient air circulation. Therefore, layered clothing in the sense used in this article is largely irrelevant in hot and dry climates. The wicking layer moves the sweat from your skin, where it can be absorbed by the other layers.
Jack Wolfskin is a major German producer of outdoor wear and equipment headquartered in Idstein. It was founded in 1981 and is now one of the biggest suppliers of outdoor products and at the same time most successful franchiser in the German specialist trade market of sports equipment. Their products include mountain and leisure clothing, footwear, rucksacks, sleeping bags, and tents. The brand is popular not only among hikers and mountaineers but predominantly worn in everyday situations; Jack Wolfskin clothes and accessories are fashionable amongst urban Germans Wilderness chic.
Smartwool is an American company founded by New England ski instructors Peter and Patty Duke in Steamboat Springs, Colorado in 1994. In 2005 The Timberland Company acquired Smartwool and in 2011 Smartwool became a subsidiary of VF Corporation upon VF Corporation's acquisition of The Timberland Company. The company makes eponymous products primarily from treated merino wool. Smartwool claims that this is a proprietary treatment that makes its products itch-free and resistant to shrinking. Smartwool is also claimed to have moisture-wicking performance and odor-reducing, anti-microbial properties; it is thus marketed primarily as performance apparel. Reviews for Smartwool products are typically found in the context of equipment for hiking and other outdoor activities. They offer products for women, men, and kids.
PrimaLoft® is a brand of patented synthetic microfiber thermal insulation material that was developed for the United States Army in the 1980s. PrimaLoft is a registered trademark of PrimaLoft, Inc., the brand's parent company.
Énergir, formerly known as Gaz Métro, is an energy company with 520,000 customers in Quebec and the northeastern United States. It is the largest natural gas distribution company in Quebec, and, through subsidiaries, also produces electricity from wind. In the United States the company operates through subsidiaries in nearly fifteen states, where it produces electricity from hydraulic, wind and solar sources, in addition to being the leading electricity distributor and the sole natural gas distributor in Vermont.
Vermont electric power needs are served by over twenty utilities. The largest is Green Mountain Power, a subsidiary of Énergir which recently also took over Central Vermont Public Service. Together this single company represents 70% of the retail customers in Vermont. The state is a small electricity consumer compared with other states. Therefore, its electricity sector has the lowest carbon footprint in the country. As of 2010, the state had the lowest wholesale electricity costs in New England. Efficiency Vermont engages in aggressive initiatives to cut residential electricity waste, which often identifies other problems that it claims can save hundreds per household per year. Accordingly, Vermont's overall energy bills are also relatively lower than in the rest of the New England states.
Finisterre is an outdoor apparel company with a focus on functional and sustainable products. Based in St Agnes, Cornwall, and founded by Tom Kay in 2003 they are recognised as a cold water surf company.
Yak fiber is the term commonly used to refer yak fiber wool produced from the coat hair of yaks, a long-haired bovine mainly found in the Himalayan region, Tibetan plateau, and some areas of Mongolia and Central Asia.
Allbirds, Inc. is a New Zealand-American company that sells footwear and apparel. Allbirds' first shoe was the Wool Runner, which is made from New Zealand superfine Merino wool. The company claims to keep its products as eco-friendly as possible and is a certified B Corporation. Allbirds uses a direct-to-consumer model, selling its products exclusively through its website and retail stores, in order to avoid the low margins commonly-associated with the wholesale selling model.
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