Pangaia

Puffer jackets pose something of a dilemma for those looking for a super-warm winter jacket as January conditions finally starts to bite this week. For shoppers against traditional goose or duck down, the only alternatives have been synthetic options. Now, however, after ten years of research a US company has created flower down, or "FLWRDWN", an insulation material that combines wildflower petals with an aerogel and a biopolymer.

The new Pangaia puffer jackets come in black, off-white and navy, and in a long ($750) and short ($550) style. The jacket outer quilted shell is made from recycled polyester, which in turn houses the flower filling.


How is this biodegradable, hypoallergenic innovative insulation made? Once the petals are shredded, the plant material is combined with a biopolymer made from vegetable waste and a patented aerogel system.

Pangaia

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This aerogel – made of 85 per cent recycled paper – helps the microstructure to be water repellant and to increase thermal insulation. This means the jackets are breathable, yet as warm as most high-end feather down jackets with the standard 90/10 down-feather ratio. Pangaia says its puffer jackets have a fill power of 750.

The company also claims this is the first time that this type of aerogel insulation has been used in combination with flower down. Other vegetable-originated fibres do exist, but they are usually compressed in a non-woven setting.


Goose and duck down puffers can potentially involve animal cruelty where the birds may be plucked while alive or reared and killed just for the feathers. Vegan down alternatives are typically made of a petroleum-based synthetic, such as polyester, which won’t biodegrade and can shed microplastics.

“[The material] has the potential to change the entire industry,” Amanda Parkes, chief innovation officer at Pangaia, told Vogue. “The traditional down industry has so many issues, but the vegan options are all petrochemical-based. That in-between solution hasn’t been addressed yet, and as we scale, it can cross over to so many other products – vests, pillows, comforters, home goods.”

Pangaia

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Pangaia has previously created a collection of basics including T-shirts and hoodies made with seaweed fibre and botanical dyes made from food waste.


For those looking to shop sustainably, it can be difficult to find down jackets that have been ethically produced. Canada Goose's down, for example, is sourced from Toronto company Feather Industries, which gets its feathers from the meat industry. Feather Industries states that "no waterfowl are ever raised solely for the harvest of their down" and insists it only buys down from farms that "ensure all partners are practicing the ethical and humane treatment of their animals", including a ban on force-feeding or live-plucking.

However, PETA has previously called into question the practices of some of the suppliers to Feather Industries.

So the FLWRDWN seems like the ideal solution. However, the Pangaia puffers have one issue right now – they are not hydrophobic. The good news is that the company states it is currently developing possible solutions to this one drawback to what could be the ultimate eco-friendly winter jacket.

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