Icebreaker - Pure Merino

Our NZ team have just hosted the inaugural Icebreaker Sock On, Sock Off Competition.  Teams got together this week and were timed to see who were the quickest to dismantle their new Run socks from the packaging, put them on, take them off and assemble them back in the orginal packaging again (kind of like a sock boat race!).

Sounds easy, but it’s not quite…  Check out the NZ ‘Soxy Bitches’ team attempt at staking their claim for global dominance.  We wonder which Icebreaker office will beat them…

Our new season’s range has just gone live on our website - check it our here.  There’s some awesome new innovations this season, make sure you’re one of the first to get your hands on some.  Find a retailer.

Northern Hemisphere Spring/Summer 10 Catalogue Cover

Southern Hemisphere Fall/Winter 10 Catalogue Cover

Here I am on my ’special’ sheepskin when I was two.   It was called ‘Lammie’.  I loved it so much I ate it, almost all of it, over the course of a year as my teeth came in.  I’m sure it’s why I have strong teeth.

Heavy petting graduated to true love when I met my first merino.   My first merino encounter, when I was six, made me realize what a half-wit Lammie was in comparison.  A fluffy slipper compared to a real beast, this sheep was magnificent.  Horns like a bull, and an attitude to match.  And a farmer who still fed it using a bottle.

Eighteen years later I started Icebreaker, and later than that I’m now a dad, with three lovely daughters of my own.  I try and open their minds to new places, people, and nature - any of which may one day, change their life in subtle yet profound ways.  They each got their own Lammie when they were born.

- Jeremy Moon, Founder and CEO Icebreaker

Hi Team Icebreaker,

In September last year we were the recipients of some Icebreaker garments from your “Share the Love” initiative.  “Share the Love” gives Icebreaker to people who are making a difference to nature and to each other.  We took our two new merino garments to the Californian High Sierra on a 300km long expedition following the ridge of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

Our aim was to use the trip as a vehicle to explore and communicate (through an educational package we designed) the many branches of science that can be experienced when spending time in nature.   Both of us have spent years working in New Zealand’s wild places and both feel a strong connection to the physical environment around us.  The dream of creating an educational package where participants learn in a multi disciplinary way while undertaking an expedition was the real nuts and bolts of our trip.

We wanted to say a big thank you for providing the most dependable garment of our wardrobes!  We stayed warm, cosy and happy throughout the trip and especially appreciated the fantastic warmth to weight ratio of our tops.

We have attached some photos from our trip showing the garments in action.

Thanks again for supporting our adventure.

- Andy Clifford and Ness Smith

Icebreaker was featured on Shaw Television’s (Vancouver) show Urban Rush on November 17, 2009. On the show the Fall Winter 2009 clothing line was presented. Director of Marketing, Deb Boswell, speaks about the benefits of Merino clothing and the superior fabric that is chosen for Icebreaker clothing.

We’re bagging synthetics at New York City’s Paragon Sports this week!

Check out the live seamstress in the window - she’s turning your stinky old synthetic t shirts into running shoe bags.  Synthetic tops make great plastic bags - but aren’t great to run in.  Icebreaker merino smells better, feels better and performs better - try it!

For those of you in NYC, pop on down and visit Molly and the team - you’ll get a great discount on our Icebreaker GT range and get a free pair of socks.

Our design team is currently photographing our Fall/Winter 10 range in the home of our merino.  They’ve sent us back some stunning images to share with you.  Magic.

February is just six months away. While that may sound like a long time, to me it feels like it’s rapidly approaching.  I am right smack in the middle of my training season, doing my best to prepare myself to make the 2010 US Olympic biathlon team.

Training so far has been…wet. I can count the number of days is hasn’t rained on one hand. Thank goodness I don’t melt.

Truthfully, the cool, wet weather isn’t bad for training. I’ve spent all of July here at home in northern Maine, making the most of the two world-class training facilities at my disposal. My training has mostly consisted of rollerskiing and of course shooting, with a good amount of running and cycling mixed in there as well.

While I have enjoyed my time at home, training, working and playing in my garden, I am now packing for what feels like the start of the season. Tomorrow I’m off to Jericho in Vermont for rollerski races and a three-week training camp.

This camp will be followed by a brief few days at home before I’ll be packing for another training camp. I will be heading to Stelvio Pass in northern Italy to ski on a glacier for a couple of weeks to get some much need on-snow time before winter begins.

The ball just keeps rolling after that - home for one week, gone for another couple of weeks, back and forth until December! It’s almost scary how close we are to the first race of the season!

I have a lot more work to do from now until then, so I will continue to focus on the day in front of me. I’ll keep you posted with updates and photos from the road. Right now, I’d better go start packing!

-  BethAnn Chamberlain, 2010 US Olympic hopeful and Icebreaker athlete

To ensure the launch of our new dog-wear range goes smoothly in 2011, we have been investing in a small group of finely tuned wear testers.  Latest to be added to the elite group of canine outdoor athletes is “Pipi” - a 12 week old Border Terrier.

Currently in a high altitude training camp near Queenstown at the home of  Tony (our General Manager - Markets), Pipi will lead our winter mountain testing programme.

Originally bred in the highlands of Scotland, the Border Terrier breed are known for their hardiness and athletic prowess - in other words: perfect for wear testing Pure NZ Merino (as long as they don’t chase the animals too much).

Two days after I came to my first interview at Icebreaker (exactly 1 year ago), my father - Michael Stunden - was taken into hospital for an emergency heart by-pass.  It came completely out of the blue as my father has always been very active.  My folks live in France, I live in Canada.  I made the decision to be with them for the duration, which turned out to be a five week haul.  I thought I had lost the job at Icebreaker and was heart-broken, but resolved.  However, thanks to the immense patience and trust of IB Canada, I was still able to come for a second interview on my return and happily started in post in September.  It was the biggest emotional roller-coaster I have ever been on.  Since coming to Icebreaker I have found my home, and not a day goes past when I don’t give thanks for the opportunity to be here.

But I’ll let my Dad tell it in his own words:

Dearest Gemma

Today has been a day of celebration for this week is the anniversary of my heart operation.  I can only say how grateful we shall always be for your support, made possible by the patience shown by your employers.  So, today is a “thank you” day literally from the bottom of my heart!  I would also like to thank the Icebreaker company as a whole.  I “moved into” Icebreaker layering very soon after my operation.  The Superfine t-shirts were the only clothes I could bear wearing next to my chest.  And for more than 300 of the last 365 days that has remained true: my nearest comfort has been one or other of my Icebreaker’s!  It is so important, when one is in pain and when ones skin is so irritated and sensitive, that a vest should fit firmly and softly to the shape of the operation area, without friction, and also maintain a responsive temperature stability.  I am grateful to have been introduced to the Icebreaker layers which at times stopped me from going crazy.

Gillian has also been inspired to become an Icebreaker wearer at 69 years old, again for their comfort and their capacity to control and steady her body temperature whatever is going on outside.  She now runs a yoga class with her friends in Burgundy and Icebreaker makes a regular appearance.  She is an inspiration!

If it had not been for your introduction, I would not have known of the Icebreaker products - nor would the growing population of people, like me, in their “third age”.  When it comes to finding comfort and support as the foundation of ones clothes, I assure you that the active over-60’s are as demanding as any athlete.  Icebreaker not only met my physical needs but did wonders for my morale: they are so sexy, making the wearer feel so good psychologically as well!

- Gemma Stunden, Icebreaker Canada Demand Planner