Inside Outdoor Spring 2020 Issue

Inside Outdoor | SPRING 2020 25 is proclaiming sustainability may be using non-sustainably produced down and not even know it, despite the use of eco-friendly labeling. This reality largely led to Allied’s creation and expansions of the Track- MyDown.com online traceability and education platform. By entering a lot number into the systems, brands, retail- ers and consumers are able to trace the down hidden inside bedding or a garment throughout the supply chain process. Going one step further, Allied recently incorporated TrackMyDown into an immersive, in-store experiential tool. Officially unveiled at the Outdoor Retailer show in January, and a win- ner of an Innovation Award at that 2020 Snow Show in Denver, Allied’s Optix iMirror is a full-length in-store interactive smart mirror that can read the down inside a garment when a customer stands in front of the mirror. Interfacing much the same as a touch- screen on a smartphone, the smart mirror takes the customer on a virtual journey of traceability back to the exact region, and sometimes the exact farm, from which their down was sourced. Customer also can learn about the performance characteristics and after- care for their garment and can make the purchase on-screen. According to Allied, the iMirror also will be able to tie into a store’s or brand’s inventory and show what styles and colors are available or offer product suggestions. “We always saw the RDS and other standards as the foundation for the real work, and now we are able to communicate source complexities, en- vironmental benefits and cleanliness to the consumer directly and through our brand partners at point of purchase,” said Daniel Uretsky, president of Allied Feather & Down. Developed in conjunction with NOBAL Technologies, the mirror uti- lizes an imbedded scanner that reads a reflective organic taggant signature impregnated on each down cluster inside an Allied-filled garment. The bio-taggant markers are what allows the down to be traced from its source, through processing, manufacturing and into the retail environment. Interestingly enough, the technol- ogy was developed by the Soviets during the Cold War era to mark the undersides of airplanes so that their surface-to-air missiles could identify their own aircraft. During the last 30 years the technology has filtered out into other consumer and military ap- plications, including as a way to mark valuable and difficult-to-trace items such as currency and fine cigars and to battle counterfeiting. Much like when developing the RDS, the Optix program was piloted as a quality control tool with The North Face to ensure all the work Allied and TNF were doing together was being reflected in the finished goods.  “I see the mirror as a more im- mersive Track My Down type of experience,” Betcher said. “It allows shoppers to learn more about down and really understand the high level of quality – and hopefully question the others.” And as Belcher pointed out, the in- teractive, in-store experience and edu- cational content help to elevate down from a misunderstood commodity to a premium ingredient, helping customers understand the value of proper pro- cessing and handling. “There is a qualitative difference [in expensive down] and a lot of that has to do with the speed at which the material is processed,” Betcher said. “You can take the material and throw it through incredibly harsh chemicals, bleach it, put it in a super-hot dryer and get it out the door in less time than it takes for you to wash a load of laundry at home. The problem with that is that it involves using chemicals that are incredibly damaging.” Down, Betcher explained, is a pro- tein that’s very similar to hair. “You have to keep a certain amount of fat and oils in it, or you can destroy it,” he says. “So a product may look fine on the rack, when in fact it’s been reduced in quality.” An ideal fit for experiential retail environments and concept shops, the Optix iMirror is currently available to retail locations and all Allied partner- branded flagship stores. m Ingredients