Icebreaker is a wool outdoor and outdoor outdoor wardrobe brand based in Auckland, New Zealand. It was purchased by VF Corporation, an entity listed on the NYSE in 2018. Icebreaker is conceived and designed around the philosophy of sustainability, using natural fibers, social and environmental ethics, and animal welfare. The company started by specializing in the manufacture of base layers of merino and now offers underwear, middle layer, outerwear, socks and accessories based on natural fibers. Icebreaker was founded in 1995 by Jeremy Moon, and now supplies his clothes to over 4,700 stores in 50 countries.
Video Icebreaker (clothing)
Histori
The ice breaker began when, in 1994, an American boyfriend introduced Jeremy Moon, then 24, to a merino wool peasant he lived in as he circled New Zealand. Brian and Fiona Brakenridge live on the remote Pohuenui Island in Marlborough with their two sons Ben and Sam and 5,000 sheep. They have developed several prototypes of thermal underwear made of 100% pure New Zealand merol wool, a fiber that at the time is of little value so that it is sold at a low cost to be mixed with traditional wool.
Icebreaker started selling its products in New Zealand, followed by Australia. The company has grown in Europe and acquired its distributors there. In 2010, one out of every three Icebreaker outfits is now on sale in Europe, now one of Icebreaker's biggest markets. In 2010 the company's sales were around $ 100 million. In 2014 the company's sales are about $ 200 million.
The company's first United States headquarters are in Santa Barbara, California and later in Sun Valley, Idaho. This moved the office to Portland, Oregon in 2007 and, in December 2008 combined US sales and marketing offices with a global design studio at its new headquarters at 1330 NW 14th Avenue in Portland, which was certified Gold by Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED ) green building scoring system set by the US Green Building Council.
Icebreaker is sold through wholesale channels, retail stores, and websites. It opened its first retail store at Wellington International Airport in 2005. In 2007, Icebreaker opened its overseas TouchLab retail store in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and Portland, Oregon, USA. In 2010, Icebreaker opened its first store in Auckland and its first independent store in Europe, in partnership with the SARL Travel Store as a retail partner, at 21st Avenue Michel Croz, Chamonix, Mont-Blanc, France. The company opened its first store in the SoHo neighborhood of New York City in November 2010, to be followed by continued retail expansion.
Icebreaker has been the subject of two case studies by Harvard Business School. In 2009, The New Zealand Herald was named Icebreaker's Moon one of the leading business leaders in the country.
Icebreaker has moved its manufacturing from New Zealand to China. It began a pilot to move production to China in 2003 and delivered the first product from offshore manufacturing in early 2004. Icebreaker then uses a phased approach over the next 2-3 years to ensure the impact on NZ manufacturing is minimal. All socks are manufactured in the United States.
Having been on the company board since July 2012, former Air New Zealand CEO Rob Fyfe started as its chief executive in September 2013.
VF agreed to buy Icebraker in 2017.
Maps Icebreaker (clothing)
Products
Icebreaker has developed a merino fiber coating system in several weights including: 120 g/mÃ,² Featheweight, 150 g/mÃ,² Ultralite, 200 g/mÃ,² Light, 260 g/mÃ,² Midweight, 320 g/mÃ,² Midlayer and 380 g/mÃ,² Outerlayer. Icebreaker products can be used solo or plated. Collections include Superfine Lightweight Travel for warm to hot conditions and all season wear; Urban Light Town Light; GT stand-alone icebreaker and insulating layer for active sports such as skiing and snowboarding; Icebreaker GT Running, Road Cycling and mountain biking trails with Lycra; Active Bodyfit Base for outdoor sport; Outside Wind Resistant Layer; and Natural underwear for women's clothing and Animals for men. The company also makes socks and accessories including head cover, gloves and tie. It also has a collection of children. In the fall of 2010, Icebreaker introduced Realfleece, which unlike synthetic fur, made of merino.
Fiber and manufacturing sources
Icebreaker is conceived and designed around the philosophy of sustainability, using natural fibers, environmental and social ethics, and animal welfare.
In August 2008 launched Icebreaker Baacode, a system that allows consumers to trace their Icebreaker origins right to a sheep station in Southern Alps of New Zealand, where merino fiber is grown. Merino Icebreaker fabrics are certified for the Oeko-tex standard 100 Class 1 and Icebreaker plants that meet the ISO 14001 environmental standards.
Icebreaker pioneered long-term contracts paying significant price premiums to selected New Zealand sheep breeders and allowed them to carry out long-term planning. In return, the contracted farmers agreed to meet Icebreaker's stringent conditions on environmental and social issues, and animal welfare. Icebreaker is now supplied with merino fiber by 140 high state stations, which include more than 2 million acres (810,000ha) of rural New Zealand. In June 2008, Icebreaker signed the largest wool contract ever in New Zealand, worth about US $ 50 million.
The company banned mulesing practices, which included traditional surgical methods and clip methods. Mulesing removes skin around the tail to prevent fly disease, Myiasis. To avoid mulesing, sheep that produce Merino Icebreakers can be treated through medicines and chemicals for the disease.
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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