ARTILECT Brings Out The Best In Wool With Help From Modern Fibers
Wool has been one of the most widely used fibers in clothing over the course of human history and for good reason. Its antimicrobial properties allow it to fight off smelly bacteria while its ability to insulate when wet make it perhaps the ideal fabric for clothing.
Wool’s achilles heel is the persistent itch that has plagued woolen fabrics for decades. To get enough strength in a woolen fabric, traditional weaves result in thicker materials that can be bulky and overly warm, making it unsuitable for daily use in many parts of the world. The crack team at ARTILECT saw the potential of wool and set out to find a fabric that merges the strengths of wool with the best of modern technical fabrics and they landed on a company building just such a hybrid fabric called Nuyarn.
ARTILECT has a full line of technical clothing and its wool-based Nuyarn is the perfect compliment to its technical shells and line of synthetic insulators. Thanks to its synthetic core, Nuyarn is stretchy and supple. These modern fabrics also enable them to weave the wool hybrid fabric thinner while maintaining enough heft to deliver a reasonably durable product. ARTILECT sent us a few pieces from their current lineup to test out.
The ARTILECT T-Shirts
ARTILECT sent us two of their technical T-Shirts to try out and boy were we impressed. Traditional merino wool shirts can be woven super thin, but they become extremely frail. After a few washes, they start thinning out and tend to wear through much faster than their synthetic or cotton-based counterparts. That’s a tough pill to swallow for a premium wool shirt and wearing out shirts on a monthly basis is definitely not the best thing for the planet.
ARTILECT’s Utilitee is the perfect upgrade for the everyday t-shirt. It sports a standard t-shirt cut that’s familiar, but thanks to its 150GSM Nuyarn merino fabric, it manages to somehow feel warm and cozy at the same time as light and airy. It quickly became one of our favorite daily wear items as we struggled to balance the desire to wear it with the need to break up the wardrobe throughout the week with some variety.
The Utilitee is soft and supple and does away with most of the scratchiness wool is known for. At the same time, the thin mesh of wool allows them to breathe, drying an amazing 5 times faster than a pure wool shirt would, according to ARTILECT. It is the ideal shirt for traveling, with its ability to go multiple days without needing to be washed helping keep your pack as light as possible.
As a base layer, ARTILECT’s Nuyarn-based Boulder 125 shirt provide a solid foundation for a technical layering system. It boasts a lighter Bluesign® 125GSM Nuyarn merino that’s been crafted into an impressive activewear shirt with gusseted armpits and flatlock seams all around.
It’s light enough that it’s well-suited to use as active wear on warm days while still keeping you warm if the weather cools down. The cut of the Boulder 125 is on the more casual side, with slightly higher arms than standard for increase mobility.
Both of these shirts quickly became favorites in our regular rotation of clothing. The Utilitee quickly found a regular place in our daily rotation and the Boulder 125 was a go-to when it was time to hit the trail on bike or on foot. We love their resistance to bacteria, quick drying weaves, and familiar cuts that make them ideal for use as a base layer for expeditions, long overlanding trips, off grid camping, hiking, and long distance travel.
One Hoodie to Rule Them All
The magic that is Nuyarn can also be woven into thicker fabrics and we were eager to see how their Nuyarn-based Eldorado hoodie performed. The promise of a durable wool with the ability to that fight off stink, dries 5 times faster than pure wool, with a durable face that resists pilling was an attractive proposition.
Right out of the bag, the Eldorado hoodie has a denser feel than your run of the mill cotton hoodie and packs in extra warmth thanks to the wool blend. It’s warmer than any sweater of this weight has any right to be and sports a slim technical fit that’s enabled by the extra stretch from Nuyarn’s synthetics.
The weave of the fabric is dense with a durable tighter knit on the outside for durability and a soft fleecy pile on the inside that is the perfect solution to crisp mornings. The pockets are lined with stretchy material that’ll make your fingers want to dive in and play while they stay extra warm inside the comfort and protection of the hoodie.
The cut of the body and arms is slim and this carries on up to the hoodie as well. It makes for a nice modern look that can blend in just as easily on an overseas flight as it can on a silicon valley corporate campus. For those looking for a more casual hoodie with more room to relax, it’s worth ordering up one size.
Overall
Clothing probably isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when we think about clean technology, but the textile industry is one of the most polluting industries around. The global fashion industry is estimated to be responsible for up to 10% of global carbon dioxide emissions, 20% of annual global plastic production, and 20% of industrial water pollution. Buying clothes that are responsibly produced from natural fabrics and designed to be durable helps reduce the negative impact our desire to not be naked has on the planet.
ARTILECT’s Nuyarn-based clothes have taken wool-based clothes to the next level. They maintain the antimicrobial properties of wool, ensuring many more days of wear before its necessary to wash them. That saves water in your day to day and keeps the amount of additives we’re putting into our water system to a minimum. Fewer washes also helps the clothes to last longer and look fresher as modern washing machines take a heavy toll on our clothes, effectively beating them up to get them clean.
Their durability and utility compared to 100% wool products gives consumers the confidence to invest in higher quality wool-based clothes with the confidence that they will stand the test of time. ARTILECT’s Eldorado Hoodie retails for $280, the Utilitee is $85, and the Boulder 125 is $100.
For more information about ARTILECT’s full lineup of Nuyarn-based clothing, head over to their website.
Disclaimer: ARTILECT provided the Eldorado Hoodie, Utilitee, and Boulder 125 shirt to the author for the purposes of this review.
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