Jim Blackstock
Production Editor
Coming out of the summer and into the winter, I’m intrigued to find out how clothing manufacturers play at alchemy, by creating clothing that is warm and dry yet isn’t clammy or sweaty. As if by magic, Held has revealed all.
THERE ARE TEXTILE suits… and then there are Gore-tex Pro suits. The Scottish waterproofing firm’s flagship material is used by only a limited number of manufacturers, appearing in range-topping suits — usually with stratospheric price-tags. So how do they justify it? We followed development of German kit giant Held’s 2019 rangetopping Atacama suit to find out.
Building a brand-new top-end suit is not a quick process. From start to finish, from the first sketch to the first finished sample arriving in Europe, took 18 months. Head of R&D Stefan Held explains: “We already have a Gore-tex Pro suit in our range, but technology moves on. We felt it was possible to introduce a new suit with some innovative features and increase comfort in very warm conditions.”
“With a Gore-tex Pro suit you are always ready for both wet and dry weather, but it has been hard to build in good venting with this material. At lower price points, using other materials, we already have our Held Air Circulation System (ACS). We saw an opportunity to put this in a Pro suit, giving better performance above 30°C.”
The first stage of building a top-end suit is to get the design right — and then develop it from the 2D design into a pattern. Unlike most kit manufacturers, who will come up with a design that’s sent to a factory (normally in the Far East) to create the pattern, Held makes all its own patterns. This means if it decides to change factory in future, or have production split between different facilities, there will be no change in the garments: they’re all made to the Held pattern.
“It also makes development much faster in the early stages,” explains Stefan. “We don’t have to wait weeks for prototypes to come back from Asia. We make the pattern here in Burgberg, make the prototype, then check it. It can save months.”
The first prototype doesn’t look too much like a riding suit — just a black garment of lightweight material, with chalk lines on it
“Building a top-end suit is not quick”
showing where panels will be. At this stage, the aim is to check the pattern, which is based on making sure the design works with the new CE specification for motorcycle personal protective equipment. This splits a garment into three zones – from Zone One (high risk) to Zone Three (low risk). Held says its aim is to overbuild and ensure the garment exceeds the standard in key areas but the material still has to sit naturally on the pattern.
The next step is to put together a more-complete prototype — not actually using Gore-tex Pro at this point — but checking how different panels of material fit together. It’s not just a visual thing: there are stretch areas, pockets and vents. The prototype is worn not only by mannequins but also volunteers, with the patternmakers checking fit and noting how to adjust it, while the design and marketing team assess the colour panels and the features, from vents to zips.
The Atacama went through three large-revision prototype stages after the initial black-pattern mock-up. The fit and design were refined at each stage, so the jump from the final prototype to the first production suit is minimal. The fourth prototype was produced simultaneously in the Far East factory and in Germany, to check there is no change when the pattern is applied to the mass-production run. Since that fourth prototype, there have been three further prototypes, each just refining the detail of the design.
The process for preparing for CE testing starts with the fourth prototype, built using the Gore-tex Pro material. This is also when the suit is subjected to waterproof testing. Held has a testing booth, where the suit is placed on a mannequin seated on a bike in front of a simulated rain storm, with a UV dye in the water so leaks can be traced and fixed. The suit is also tested in a washing machine, to check the material doesn’t lose strength when washed.
“Pro is a very good material,” Stefan
“This is where Gore-tex Pro is different”
explains. “But it is very expensive, so has to be at a particular price point. And there is not so much freedom to design with it, as it is a laminate and the seams have to be correctly taped.”
Most other waterproof materials — including the standard Gore-tex Membrane — work by having a separate layer of waterproof fabric stitched in place behind whatever tougher material forms the outer layer of the garment. Sometimes the waterproof element isn’t even layered up with the outer but is a completely detachable layer.
This is where Gore-tex Pro is different: it’s a three-layer laminate where the waterproof element is bonded to the back of the outer material and a durable water-repellent treatment applied to the surface. This makes it highly effective at keeping water out… but every needle hole for stitching is a potential weak point unless a heat-sealed tape is welded to the back of each seam. Traditionally, this has discouraged manufacturers from putting lots of vents into Gore-tex Pro garments.
So what is the solution to this dilemma? The Atacama jacket has two large chest vents, sealed with waterproof zips and secured by magnets, large vertical vents on the back and an enormous waterproof zip running down each arm. “They’re the most expensive zips we’ve ever used,” Stefan explains. “Each one costs us €43.” There are similar ones in the trousers, as well as smaller vents built into the thigh pockets. Then there’s the ACS: a mesh placket behind the main zip so the rider can leave the main zip unfastened. The jacket is still done up, but with airflow to the chest.
There’s even more to this jacket, though, as it can take Held’s new LED lighting system. Designed to be powered by any USB power pack you may own, the flexible LED tubes slide into fine mesh channels engineered into the jacket to add subtle but highly effective extra visibility in the dark.
This combination of time, materials and construction is what makes Gore-tex Pro suits so expensive. The Atacama jacket will be £966.99 and the trousers £747.99 when they launch in the spring. That compares with the Dane Nimbus jacket (£874.99) and Lyngby Air trousers (£529.99), Dainese Antarctica (jacket £1299.95, trousers £749.95) and the Rukka Nivala (jacket £1319.99, trousers £849.99).