A highlight this year from The North Face is the Apex Flex jacket. This highly waterproof jacket combines the advantages of a softshell jacket and a hard shell jacket. Outdoor sports enthusiasts will be able to purchase the jacket in stores from spring 2018. Messe.TV presenter Petra Nérette talks to Hortense Carlier from The North Face at Outdoor Friedrichshafen to find out more.
This seems to be a special highlight, the jackets must be completely waterproof. I will now find out if that is the case. Petra Nérette: Hello, I was just wondering what the highlight is here? Hortense Carlier: Our highlight for Spring 18 is our Apex Flex jacket. The Apex Flex jacket is completely waterproof, fully bonded and also has a Gore membrane. This jacket is the best combination of soft shell and hard shell. The jacket is waterproof but also very comfortable and has a high stretch content. Stretchy like a soft shell but also waterproof like a hard shell, it combines the best of both jackets. Petra Nérette: When it rains a lot, it also gets very cold. Does the jacket keep you warm, it's already very thin? Hortense Carlier: It's actually thin but thick enough to keep the body warm in the spring season.
Petra Nérette: Up to how much? Hortense Carlier: Up to 8-10 degrees it offers enough protection against the cold. Petra Nérette: Can we see what it looks like on the inside? Hortense Carlier: This is a men's jacket. Petra Nérette: That doesn't matter. Hortense Carlier: But the inside is also super clean, the seams are fully taped, fully welded.
Petra Nérette: I was just about to say that it looks as if it had been glued over it. Hortense Carlier: Yes, the inside is really fully glued, waterproof and completely clean and black. Our focus on spring 2018. Petra Nérette: May I test a jacket? This is the women's jacket, it's beautiful. It's completely water-repellent and windproof, what about breathability? Hortense Carlier: Well, this jacket has a Gore membrane, and that really gives it a high level of breathability.
Petra Nérette: And how high is the breathability? Hortense Carlier: Unfortunately, we at North Face don't communicate that. Petra Nérette: And why not? Hortense Carlier: That is our strategy and I can say 100% that with Gore we have the best breathability on the market. Petra Nérette: Yes, it's very nice, the colors too. The North Face used to be the brand for me. Anyone who wanted to go to the North Pole and was out in minus 20 degrees had a North Face jacket. In the meantime, however, it has become medium-sized, like Jack Wolfskin. What happened there? Hortense Carlier: We are North Face and this Apex Flex technology is unique to our company. There is no other brand that has it. We are exclusively on the market with Gore technology until fall 2018. Therefore no Jack Wolfskin only The North Face.