FW Apparel Women’s Outerwear 21/22 Preview

Retail Buyers Guide: Women’s Outerwear 21/22 Retail Buyer’s Guide
Brand: FW
Interviewee: Anna Smoothy, Head of Marketing

What is the overall theme behind your FW 21/22 outerwear range? From which big trends do you take your inspiration?
The FW 21/22 Women’s lineup is inspired by new school outdoor culture. The new school design philosophy embraces the future and a liberal style, emphasizing codes outside of the action sports realm. Whether it‘s the mountains, valleys or the ocean, nature is at the core of our brand and inspires our colors.

Drawing inspiration from boardsports culture, FW delivers modern cuts, minimalist branding and rich color palettes. FW’s progressive obsession to synergize style and technology reflects years of exhaustive research, development and testing in the heart of the French Alps.

What new fits / silhouettes are coming out in FW 21/22? What pant and jacket styles are most important in your range?
The Women’s MANIFEST Tour 3L Jacket + Bib are new to the FW women’s lineup in season 21/22. This silhouette was coveted by splitboarders and backcountry enthusiasts when it first launched the men’s collection for season 20/21. We have taken these concepts and fabrics, cut them for women, with additional functionality for women, ensuring that every trip to the backcountry is an outstanding one.
For those who venture beyond the resort on excursions big and small, the 100% seam-sealed W MANIFEST Tour 3L Jacket is created from the highest quality, waterproof, stretch fabric, cut precisely to avoid excess weight. The Women‘s MANIFEST 3L Tour Bib Pants are wonderfully efficient, constructed from a lightweight, stretch, 3-Layer fabric and cut for ergonomic excellence. The Bib‘s Cordura side panels are incredibly soft and allow for fluid movement, whether trekking up or flying down. A two-way YKK Vislon zip from side body to mid-thigh means that you can quickly open the bib pant for a wild wee in the backcountry without removing your jacket.

What new colours / prints are you bringing to the FW 21/22 collection?
We highlight vibrant accents on cool and yet rich monochromes for the 21/22 season. Vivid colors such as Deep Teal and Fresh Mint are inspired by coastal shorelines, and luminous red tones represent Wild Berries and Red Maple. Darker hues include a warm Pine Bark and a deeply saturated Dark Stone inspired by the alpine skyline at dusk.

Any *NEW* technical stories with regards to fabrics and materials?
We have invigorated the basics, by bringing an all-new fabric to our Women’s MANIFEST 2L Jacket + Bib. The 2L Stretch Ripstop Shell ramps up the waterproofing and breathability to 20,000mm + 15,000g (up from 10k/10k in 20/21). The built-in stretch and robust protection of this fabric takes our most price-accessible silhouette to another level of technicality.

Introduced for the first time to FW’s women’s collection, the W MANIFEST Tour 3L is built with a 3-layer 4-way stretch nylon that moves as you do. Incredibly waterproof and breathable, this fabric is the perfect solution for our premiere women’s backcountry splitboarding silhouette.

W/P: 20,000mm; MVP: 20,000g;
DWR; Face: 85% Nylon, 15% Spandex; Membrane: 100% Hydrophilic Milky Membrane; Backing: 20D Nylon Tricot.

What are the three most important products in your FW 21/22 range? Why? Please tell us about them.
W MANIFEST Tour 3L Jacket – WPS + W MANIFEST Tour 3L Bib – WPS

The Women’s MANIFEST Tour 3L Jacket + Bib are new to the FW women’s lineup in season 21/22. This silhouette was coveted by splitboarders and backcountry enthusiasts when it first launched the men’s collection for season 20/21. We have taken these concepts and fabrics, cut them for women, with additional functionality for women, ensuring that every trip to the backcountry is an outstanding one.
For those who venture beyond the resort on excursions big and small, the 100% seam-sealed W MANIFEST Tour 3L Jacket is created from the highest quality, waterproof, stretch fabric, cut precisely to avoid excess weight. The Women‘s MANIFEST 3L Tour Bib Pants are wonderfully efficient, constructed from a lightweight, stretch, 3-Layer fabric and cut for ergonomic excellence. The Bib‘s Cordura side panels are incredibly soft and allow for fluid movement, whether trekking up or flying down. A two-way YKK Vislon zip from side body to mid-thigh means that you can quickly open the bib pant for a wild wee in the backcountry without removing your jacket.

W ROOT Down Jacket – PFL

For optimal insulation in freezing-cold temperatures, the Women‘s ROOT Down Jacket is the eco-friendly choice thanks to 100% recycled feathers and down. The lightweight liner is soft and comfortable, and underarm vents provide reliable temperature regulation.

What are your top marketing stories for FW 21/22? This will help us to put some focus in the right place.
FW is dropping 1x 21/22 product family early, stay tuned for more details on our early release expected in Spring ’21.

This summer, FW has been digging deep into their brand identity, looking at the people, stories and the culture behind the brand. The FW team, Sevi van der Meer and the guys at Club Sandwich have distilled these stories into a visually compelling coffee table book.

BASE LAYER FOCUS

What’s your base layer strategy for FW 21/22? Please let us know your tech innovations, materials, colours and price points.
W RAW is FW’s merino basewear collection for women. Featuring a lightweight merino ¾ tight and crewneck and a midweight jogger. This collection is made from naturally technical merino wool. FW’s classically understated aesthetic shines through – all products are featured in black merino with minimalist logos.

Pricing is of W RAW garments is on par or just under the global merino specialists.

WIDER MARKET FOCUS

Please provide an overview of how 2021/22 is shaping up for your brand. Has COVID-19 affected your line? If so, please explain the changes you have made, and how you came to these decisions.
Throughout the COVID pandemic, we have stayed true to our premium positioning. As we saw many brands cull their most technical product lines, we held fast to the pre-COVID forecasting of our high-end products. Our prediction of the “premium” opportunity resulting from other brand’s COVID cancellations was accurate. Though the pandemic has influenced snowboarder’s winter plans, it’s becoming clear that what shakes to the top in challenging times is quality apparel that looks good and works even better.