When I look at outerwear, first and foremost, I consider if the jacket will work for all my outdoor sports and daily use. I don’t need a closet packed full of winter gear. I live in a small cottage and simply don’t have space. Nor do I need or want a lot of options. I just want something I can grab regardless of the activity. And that’s what Parmi, a Canadian company based outside of Montreal, is expertly designing and crafting.
I’ve used the Explore Jacket as a layer during a recent ski trip to Tignes, France; I chuck it on for cold morning runs and wear it to the supermarket and even to a friend’s house at the weekend for a bonfire. I love Parmi’s use of the two fabrics; it gives a slightly leather look to the shoulder and hood, which elevates the style. Parmi is also spot on with branding. There are no big splashy labels, and everything from the stitching to the lines of this garment has been thoughtfully (and elegantly) considered. I’m sure this jacket will be a base layer for years of sport to come. -Katie Gavin, Editor
I must also applaud Parmi for this headband. It’s oh-so-chic and not itchy – thanks for the fleece lining. Again, it’s an example of how this brand is crafting gear that is practical but also looks good. The headband comes in a couple of colors. I have one in bottle green, but there’s also a nice brown and cream-patterned version. At the moment, I’m living in this outdoors in Scotland. It keeps my ears warm on runs in below-freezing temperatures, and it’s also great for keeping my hair out of my eyes. – Katie Gavin, Lifestyle Editor
Headband price: $45
Jacket price: $233
Parmi Light Insulated Headband
For years I’ve been whittling anything disposable out of my travel toiletry bag. Matador Equipment’s FlatPak toiletry bottles and soap case sealed the deal on my fully zero-waste bathroom setup. I got the three-pack of toiletry bottles. Before getting into how effective they are, it’s important to emphasize that they aren’t actual bottles – they’re soft-sided, refillable tubes that are TSA-compliant and can hold just about any liquid or gel you can think of to bring on the road. I use one for face moisturizer, another for shampoo, and the final one for mouthwash. Before getting these, I was using small glass bottles that I bought at a zero-waste store, and while those held the products just fine, they took up a ton of space in my toiletry bag and I was always nervous they would break mid-flight. The FlatPak bottles compress and flex into any available space and are easier to clean. The lids remove for filling, putting them about on par with how easy it was to fill the glass bottles. But they’re far more secure once the lid is on – I’ve yet to have a single issue with them spilling or leaking.
The Matador Equipment Soap Bar Case is similar in that it’s soft-sided and malleable. It replaced a plastic case I’d lug around soap in. It fits a standard-size bar of soap, or a few of the travel-size bars you find in hotel rooms. The ultimate win here is that if I open a bar of soap in a hotel room, I can bring it with me instead of 95 percent of it going to waste after a I check out.
Aside from having a great brand name, Matador Equipment has become a go-to brand for me over the past year because it’s products are dependable and burly, along with being very reasonably priced. – Tim Wenger, Transactional Content editor
FlatPak toiletry bottles: $38
Soap Bar Case: $14
Matador Equipment FlatPak toiletry bottles
Matador Equipment Soap Bar Case
Photo courtesy Turtle Fur
I was born in and have lived most of my life in the uncontested heart of beanie-wearing country, Colorado. From mountain tops to breweries, it’s impossible to go anywhere in this state without seeing people wearing them. Beanies are an essential part of the mountain lifestyle’s dress code – which makes it unfortunate that I tend to look ridiculous in them. Maybe it’s my oddly-shaped head or awkward build, but of the dozens of beanies I’ve owned over the years I can count on two fingers the number that I felt confident wearing. One is the Wesley yak fur beanie from Turtle Fur. The yak wool is quite breathable and moisture wicking, making it a good companion for ski touring ascents and other such activities.
This breathable, flexible material is what makes it look good on me, too – rather than bleeding to be pulled down so far that it covers my eyebrows just to prevent bunching at the top, it melds to the shape of my head. Even when I fold an inch or so of the bottom over, the beanie still fits well and looks good. I’ve worn it out to happy hour and dinner immediately following a day on the mountain and felt both comfortable and appropriately dressed throughout. Plus, the Wesley is microfleece-lined with 100 percent recycled polyester and super-warm. It’s routinely well below freezing when I walk my dog in the early morn’, but with this beanie on my head and ears hardly notice.
Turtle Fur is a certified B corp and in general a good brand to support if you care about the planet we live on (wool is, in general, far more eco-friendly and circular than new polyester, for example). – Tim Wenger, Transactional Content Editor
Price: $65
The fight against climate change and pollution isn’t limited to traveling by train instead of flying, or using an electric car instead of a gas one for your next road trip. Trying to lead a greener, more sustainable lifestyle means that we need to look more critically at everything we do and everything we purchase, including the clothes we wear. While it’s tedious, before we buy any new garment, we should look at its provenance, its composition, its quality, the conditions in which it was made, and the ethos of the brand that sells it. This is the process I went through before I purchased my Modern Melton Wool shirt by ANIÁN, and I’m glad I took the time to do so.
ANIÁN is a clothing company based in British Columbia, Canada, the province in which I reside. But the brand offers more than proximity to my home. By recycling natural fibers from clothing that would otherwise end up in landfills, and transforming them into new, durable, made-in-Canada garments, ANIÁN is a perfect example of exceptional circular fashion. And by giving its customers the chance to resell their ANIÁN clothes and getting store credit for them, it’s closing the loop once and for all.
While the brand sells t-shirts, hats, jackets, sweaters, and more, it’s shirts that ANIÁN is most famous for. The brand offers a small variety of cuts, styles, materials, and dye-free colors for its shirts, but my personal favorite is the Modern Melton Wool. Made of 80 percent post-consumer recycled wool that is densely woven in the manner of sailors’ peacoats, this shirt is extremely durable and warm; It’s also unbelievably beautiful. The colors are rich and nuanced, the cut is precise, the material is thick and stiff, yet pleasant to wear.
My dark green Modern Melton Wool is the item of clothing I wear the most in fall and winter. I throw it on top of a long-sleeved shirt in the fall, or a merino-wool turtleneck to stay toasty when the temperatures drop further. When I’m in France, my native country, where the weather is much milder than Canada, I pair it with a scarf and use it as a coat. It’s the highest-quality, and prettiest item in my wardrobe, and I hope to keep it for decades to come. – Morgane croissant, deputy editor
Price: $172