Icelandic wool insulation: A breakthrough where innovation blends with tradition

Innovative outdoor clothing company Icewear are well known for their blend of traditional materials with high performance modern textiles.  The Icewear development team strive to bring the best clothing to market with a firm eye on tradition and sustainability.  Icewear is a long established Icelandic outdoor wear company who develop their clothing range in Iceland. 

Back in 2021 in Reykjavík, Iceland:  Icewear announced a new outdoor range of coats and jackets with a lightweight, reusable insulation.  CEO Aðalsteinn Pálsson announced that this lightweight insulation would set new industry standards.  Pálsson envisaged that this breakthrough was the sustainable answer to rising costs, unpredictable weather events, extreme temperatures. 

“This innovation will drive the wool industry into the future.”  

Traditional wool was the breakthrough of effective, natural insulation.  Icelandic wool is unique and very special due to having two distinct layers: 

• Thel, the light and airy inner layer 

• Tog, the strong and water repellent outer layer  

 Icewear’s wool-insulation uses both of these layers to create the lightweight super insulation. 

 Wool is a natural product; sheep are shorn for their welfare and Icewear makes sure that wool farmers receive higher prices because the new breakthrough is to use all the wool including some that was previously discarded.  The Icewear team realised that by using both parts of the wool they were ensuring all the natural benefits of wool would be utilised in their clothing. 

Previous wool by-product becomes gold 

Pálsson said “what was previously considered a by-product has become gold for us”  It’s a win-win situation, whereby Icewear brings lighter weight natural insulation to market, and because waste is reduced more is given back to Icelandic farmers. 

Pálsson brought the idea to the Icewear team in 2021, after speaking to a foreign entrepreneur who owned another outdoor brand.  That entrepreneur was just starting to use wool in his lines and showed an interest in the unique qualities of Icelandic wool. 

A new development was born when they decided to jointly develop the idea for their own ranges. On his return to Reykjavík, Pálsson immediately connected with Ístex, the leading wool producer in Iceland.   

Lopi Loft was born 

Pálsson’s contact led to Ístex creating a new lightweight insulation that uses more of the Icelandic wool reducing waste.  It’s natural insulation that is reusable and REACH certified. 

REACH certification means that it’s been proven to have no detrimental effect on human health or on the environment. 

Ístex called the insulation Lopi Loft. 

Everybody wins 

The innovation was a game changer for Icelandic wool farmers, but more than that it set higher standards in consumer outdoor wear.  The unique yet ancient performance of Icelandic wool changed the world of insulation for outdoor clothing. 

When you think about it Icelandic sheep keep warm in temperatures as low as -30°C and keep cool when it’s as warm as 30°C. The amazing insulation properties of Icelandic wool transfers to insulation for consumers.  Icelandic wool’s natural thermoregulation, antibacterial and water-resistant qualities make it uniquely useful as a superior insulation material.  By using Icelandic sheep wool as insulation Icewear create outdoor products that enable consumers enjoy the same comfort whatever the weather.  

Historical launch day 

Sales of the new outdoor line began on Iceland’s sovereignty day, on 1st December 2021. Today, no other company in the world produces outdoor clothing with Icelandic wool.  Icewear’s new insulation is 80% wool, compared with other wool blends containing only as little as 4% and up to 50% wool. There is no other company that uses as much wool insulation as Icewear.   

The wool insulated products can be found both in Icewear stores and on Icewear's website. 

About Icewear 

Icewear has been in operation since 1972, that’s more than 50 years. Icewear began as a knitting studio in Hvammstangi.  Today the company has grown into an international Icelandic wool and outdoor apparel direct to consumer business.  

Prior to the new product line launch, Icewear were best known for traditional jumpers.  The new wool insulation created a new era for the company, for consumers, and championed the wool industry both in Iceland and abroad.