Two more American apparel brands are now capitalizing on the technical textile finishing products from the Swiss technology innovator HeiQ, joining their extensive list of more than 150 brand partners. The workwear leader Dickies® will launch its novel HeiQ Smart Temp empowered Cooling Tees to retailers at this year’s Outdoor Retailer (OR) Summer Market in Salt Lake City, from July 26-29, 2017. Likewise exhibiting at the OR show, the sustainable activewear brand prAna has recently launched its Performance Collection with HeiQ Fresh Tech for long-lasting odor control.
The world’s No. 1 performance workwear brand Dickies is widely recognized and trusted for innovation, quality and built-in durability, outfitting professional workers head-to-toe. At the 2017 Outdoor Retailer (OR) Summer Market Dickies will present its Temp-iQ™ Advanced Cooling Tees which are built like classic work tees but perform like an athletic tee. This high-tech garment features the intelligent thermoregulation technology HeiQ Smart Temp and will be Dickies’ key product release for the Spring 2018 season.
“We’re always mining for ways to keep workers comfortable while also integrating technologies that keep pushing us forward,” said Brian Sheedy, the senior vice president of merchandising and design at Williamson-Dickie Mfg. Co. “We were drawn to HeiQ’s technology that actually responds to the body’s temperature changes by regulating moisture wicking, evaporation and cooling just like skin does naturally. Pairing that with the reliability of a Dickies work tee we’ve created a solution that’s resulted in our Dickies Temp-iQ Advanced Cooling Tees.”
Dickies and HeiQ also cooperate in the scope of technology vetting, testing and consumer communications. The Temp-iQ Advanced Cooling Tees have been thoroughly tested in HeiQ’s laboratory facilities using the Adaptive Dynamic Evaporation test protocol which has revealed excellent thermoregulation performance results. In addition to the lab work, the Dickies Pro Staff group of real-world craftsmen has extensively wear tested the Temp-iQ Advanced Cooling Tees in direct comparison to competitors’ products, finding clear cut benefits and performance advantages with the HeiQ treated shirts.
The activewear brand prAna is another valued HeiQ partner that utilizes HeiQ’s textile technologies. prAna is inspired by healthy and free-spirited living and strives for highly versatile clothing providing all day comfort. In line with this mission, prAna recently enhanced its Performance Collection with the long-lasting odor control technology HeiQ Fresh Tech to durably and efficiently eliminate bad smells from textiles and assure the wearer day-long freshness just like coming out from the shower.
“We want to make sure that our consumers can go from doing something active straight to dinner easily in the same garments,” prAna’s Product Developer Ellen Johnson said. “Polyester normally retains odors, which makes the versatility of garments made with this fiber very difficult. We have been looking for a sustainable anti-odor treatment option and are very excited about HeiQ because it is the first anti-odor chemical we found that is actually bluesign approved. This makes it a no-brainer for us to use in our garments.”
prAna benefits from HeiQ’s marketing communication support, for example in the form of consumer targeted labels and online product descriptions. Their Performance Collection has been released together with the HeiQ Fresh Tech labels drawing the consumer’s attention to the innovation edge and functionality of the novel prAna product. Such a label can contribute to a positive purchase decision from consumers, of which 72% are interested in odor resistance functions in their apparel and they would be willing to pay a 15% price premium for these performance characteristics*. HeiQ’s Vice President of North American Brandforce Colin Lantz emphasizes: “HeiQ works very closely with its brand partners not only on product innovation and maximizing the efficacy of our technology on their garments, but also by providing mission critical marketing support. Consumers nowadays like to be informed about every ingredient and every step in the supply chain. As an ingredient in our brand partners’ products we provide them with the marketing claims and messages that boost explaining the technology helping to capture the added value at the point of purchase.”
The HeiQ Fresh Tech enhanced everyday basics core program of prAna’s Performance Collection is, and will continue to be, available for the end consumer, and will be presented at the OR Summer Market show in Salt Lake City from July 26-29, 2017.
* According to Cotton Inc’s 2016 Retail Monitor™ survey
