We live in an age of fake news, a time in our collective history where it can often feel nigh on impossible to know where truth begins, fiction ends, and reality itself even exists. The need for transparency is there but this noble goal can so often get drowned out by various slogans promising us this, that, and the other. And this is as true in the outdoor gear industry as it is in, say, politics.
Step forward Allied Feather & Down then who, with the help of the Optix’s Smart iMirror technology, look set to revolutionise the way we buy our jackets. They might not be able to do anything about Trump and the rest just yet but they are primed and ready to dramatically change the way consumers buy down. The future, as they say, is here.
“The future, as they say, is here”
A lack of transparency in the supply chain, a hurdle for so many, could be a thing of the past with the new Optix Smart iMirror – an immersive retail experiential tool with the ability to read and verify down inside garments. What this means, in short, is that you’ll be able to walk into a shop, try on a coat, think “hey this coat looks real good on me but I’m worried about where the down comes from”, scan said coat against the smart iMirror and then get served up a full breakdown of the down’s origin story.
It’s essentially the progressive next step of the ISPO Gold-Winning TrackMyDown.com idea, and has the traceability and education platform very much at its heart. The hope, and thinking behind it all, is that it will significantly elevate the commodity of down on an ethical level by ensuring that animal welfare and environmental standards are met. It also, of course, means consumers can see whether all the guff, and marketing spiel, about performance-preserving handling and treatment is the real deal or a load of baloney.
