A Breakthrough in Outdoor Clothing: Wool Insulation

An innovation from the outdoor apparel company Icewear makes wool production more sustainable, gives back to farmers, and offers an alternative insulation to keep wearers comfortable in changing environments.

Reykjavík, Iceland: In 2021, Icewear announced a new outdoor line with a lightweight, reusable insulation that the company’s CEO believed would set new standards for the industry.

Years later, that’s exactly what the alternative insulation material has done.

CEO Aðalsteinn Pálsson was quoted saying, “This innovation will drive the wool industry into the future.” Pálsson envisioned the new product line as an answer to rising coasts, more extreme temperatures, shocking weather events and labored push for sustainability. The planet needed—and still needs—more conscientious practices, as do the people living on it.

With Icewear’s new line, “wool farmers receive higher product prices,” Pálsson explains. The new products use wool that was previously ineligible for yarn production, and therefore discarded. Wasted wool fiber was especially abundant in Icelandic sheep wool, because Icelandic wool has two distinct layers:

1. Thel, the inner layer, which is superlight and airy

2. Tog, the outer layer, which is strong and water repellent

Icewear’s new wool-insulated line uses both parts of Icelandic wool in a lightweight insulation that carries all the natural benefits of the unique fibers. “What was previously considered a ‘by-product’ has become gold for us,” says Pálsson. The practice has given more back to sheep farmers, too, because more of the wool they yield is used in products.

The Story Behind the Idea

Pálsson was the one who brought the idea to the Icewear. It started in 2021 when, while traveling, Pálsson spoke with a foreign entrepreneur and owner of another outdoor brand. The entrepreneur was taking first steps to use wool in his own lines, and in speaking with Pálsson, his interest was piqued when he learned about the specific qualities of Icelandic wool.

The two decided to develop the idea together, each for their own line. Pálsson returned to Reykjavík and immediately connected with Ístex, the leading wool producer in Iceland.

The result was Ístex’s new insulation called Lopi Loft, a lightweight and reusable material made from 100% Icelandic wool that’s also REACH certified, meaning it has been shown to have no detrimental effect on human health or on the environment.

Better Consumer Products

Not only is the innovative line and use of new wool insulation by Icewear a gamechanger for wool farmers, it also sets higher standards for consumer outdoor wear as a result of the unique performance qualities of Icelandic wool.

Icelandic sheep have to stay warm enough and cool enough under in temperatures as low as -30°C and as warm as 30°C (from -22°F to 86°F). By using Icelandic sheep wool to insulate Icewear’s new outdoor products, consumers enjoy the same comfort no matter the conditions. Icelandic wool’s natural thermoregulation, antibacterial and water-resistant qualities make it uniquely useful as a superior insulation material.

No other company in the world produces outdoor clothing with Icelandic wool, and no other company uses as much wool in its insulation as Icewear does. Icewear’s new insulation is 80% wool compared with market wool blends containing between 4 and 50%.

Sales of the new outdoor line began on 1, 2021 which is also Iceland’s sovereignty day. The products can be found both in Icewear stores and on Icewear's website.

About Icewear

It’s over 50 years that Icewear has been in operation. The company started as a knitting studio in Hvammstangi in 1972, and since has grown into an international line of Icelandic wool and outdoor apparel. Before the launch of the new product line, sweaters were the products Icewear was best known for. With the new wool insulation material, Icewear has championed in a new era for the company, for consumers, and for the wool industry in Iceland and abroad.