Chillaz Takes Climbing Apparel to New Heights
If anyone does cool well, it’s Chillaz International, and the company’s latest efforts have everything to do with elevating climbing apparel—including denim that a climber can wear .
The Austria-based family business has been focused on producing climbing and outdoor apparel that actually work for the wearer since 2001, and now Chillaz sells its goods to nearly all of Europe, some of Asia and will open Chillaz USA this spring.
“The climbing market is growing from year to year,” Chillaz owner Ulf Kattnig said. In the company’s home region, there are a few hundred thousand registered climbers and indoor climbing halls are starting to pop up, catering to those who prefer the activity to the gym. “Climbing will be a part of the Olympics 2020 in Toyko, so for sure it is an extreme growing market.”
Kattnig, himself a climber, along with his wife who he admits has been better than him, knows the sport intimately, which is what helps him stay in touch with the demands of the sport and the climber.
With the uptick in climbing’s relevance comes the need to upgrade the performance capabilities of the product too.
“We need to think like a chef, so you need to know your end-consumer to know what kind of ingredients you need,” Kattnig said. “If we would be in the running business, we need to use more polyamide or other fibers. For climbing we need very robust fabrics.”
Climbers are looking for garments that don’t take anything away from their experience, but rather, enhance it. They are looking for things like UV protection and quick drying time, and regardless of the added performance elements, they still want a fabric with a smooth hand.
“The movement is a very important thing, so we need to think about how to add the elasticity to our garments,” Kattnig said.
For most of its garments, Chillaz uses TENCEL®, Lenzing Modal®, cotton and Lycra®, yarns in several combinations for their added benefits, like added elasticity and improved handfeel. Next up for Chillaz will be adding UV benefits in response to consumer demand.
“At the moment we are working on new UV protection items by using TENCEL® Sun. That will be a big story for us in the future,” Kattnig said. “Seamless technology will be a perfect thing also for pants—so we will surprise you.”
The key for Chillaz is creating a fabric that does what it should do, and to get that, you can’t take a fabric “off the rack,” so to speak. Creating that ideal performance product, shouldn’t come at the expense of the environment either.
“Development is something that is extremely important for us,” Kattnig said. “Furthermore we are doing sports in nature, so I think climbers are a little bit more connected to nature. So sustainability is not a marketing tool—it’s a must for us.”
Chillaz is already using a laser engraving system in its production process, which has saved considerable amounts of water. Incorporating sustainable yarns and partnering with suppliers and companies that think similarly about environmental efforts has also been key for Chillaz.
“We are based in Tirol, surrounded by mountains, nature, creeks from the glacier, so we have the privilege to live where other people go for their vacation,” Kattnig said. “Under these conditions, it is hard to ignore sustainability—we live it, as we are always being confronted day by day.”
When we think of climbers, denim won’t often come to mind, but because Chillaz produces climbing garments with a touch of urban lifestyle, the company is giving climbers clothing that can transition from street to peak.
Denim for climbing, according to Kattnig, “must be extremely stretchy, it must recover, it needs to be robust, light and it needs to have good drying time.”
And TENCEL® has helped Chillaz fulfill some of those needs.
“TENCEL®, is my favorite fiber,” Kattnig said. “We have so many possibilities in blending this fiber and it always gives the fabric a benefit. We need less dye, the hand feel is great, it becomes odorless, and in combination with Lycra® T-400, it works brilliant.”
“Denim became a revival the past three to four years starting with the new developments with knitted denim pants and now with the denim T-shirts we are using,” he said. “The end is not done so far—using other yarns tinted in denim or seamless denim technology—that might be an exciting thing which we will follow the next few years.”
When asked what Carved in Blue means to him, Kattnig said it’s all about elevating denim.