Icebreaker - Pure Merino

Congratulations to our Graphic Design team in our Wellington Head Office.  It was announced today that 3 of our designs are finalists in the Designers Institute of New Zealand Best Design Awards 2010.

Nice work guys!

Check out their stunning work here:
Icebreaker GT Technical Baselayer Packaging
Icebreaker Merino Socks Packaging
Icebreaker Office Interior Art

Running a relay race from Montreal to New York City is no picnic, but a group of Icebreaker-sponsored athletes recently met this awesome challenge.

Our Montreal Touch_Lab_ sponsored 10 athletes and two coaches from ‘Esprit de Corps’ to compete in the 617k race. The relay involved running 10k six times, which was especially tough for those athletes who hadn’t done any endurance running before.

Sonia Laboursodiere, a member of group, feared her injuries would prevent her from running her part of the relay.  Despite thinking that the race was “a bit insane”, Sonia decided to go ahead to prove to her four sons “that when you really want something in life, you can achieve it”.

It was a hard slog, but Sonia and her fellow runners successfully completed the race in about 65 hours. All the athletes were running to raise funds for a summer camp for underprivileged children.

“Life sometimes bringing us at a point where we need to make a decision about what we want to accomplish.  This challenge has made me realize that I am able to do more than I thought,” says Sonia.

“I feel much strong and more confident than I did before the race.”

The team all wore Icebreaker_GT tops and caps. Later, they said the fit and style of their Velocity Crewe tops were amazing, very comfortable, and didn’t stink.

Rejean Roussy - Montreal Touch_Lab Manager

Icebreaker_GT pulled us over the finish line during the Dutch Adventure Race Championship last June.

The RaidXL, also called  “The Master’s track”,  was tough: 240 km in 30 hours.  This included 30 km of walking, 130 km mountain biking, 30 km run&bike, 15 km kayaking,  tubing, 1 km swimming and an array of special tasks.  With 6,000m of altitude difference, high temperatures and some challenging map reading, we had our mental and physical up’s and downs, but undoubtedly our great Icebreaker gear helped us reach the finish line.

About 15 mins before the last part of the Raid, after 200 meters of swimming, I got seriously ill.  My Raid partner suddenly transformed into Florence Nightingale.  He gave me some Coke and put my GT Quantum Zip back on and I was away again.  We finished 3^rd, leaving many experienced teams behind.

Another lesson learned:  It ain’t over till it’s over!

Winfried Bats - The Netherlands

At Icebreaker, we know how to party. So it’s no surprise that a recent launch event held for New Zealand media in Auckland was noisy, raucous and action-packed.

Our models hammed it up on stage, throwing killer “blue steel” looks from the catwalk and treating guests to outrageous twirls, spins and dips. They even formed a human pyramid to show their commitment to Icebreaker’s athletic, outdoor image.

CEO Jeremy Moon had a great time telling everyone about Icebreaker, and a grower had a yarn about his merino sheep.

Guests were given a cool new Bodyfit+ top, and used our online traceability programme, Baacode, to trace the merino fibre in their new garment through the supply chain and right back to the farm where it was grown.

The Ramatour - our sexy mascot - was a hit with female guests, and everyone loved watching Junior range models Leo (five) and Scarlet (six) strut their stuff on the catwalk. We also showcased our Bodyfit+ and Icebreaker_GT ranges at the event.

Guests enjoyed snacking from their bags of sheep poo - which, you’ll be relieved to hear, were actually chocolate-covered raisins. Equally delicious were cocktails from 42Below canapés from Mint Kitchen, and the models serving them (all clad in our Nature and Beast underwear ranges).

Check out the pics of the event - you’ll love them.