Mammut celebrate 25 years of softshell

This summer Mammut (CH) celebrate a quater of a century of "softshell" technology. Twenty five years ago the swiss brand colaborated with local fabric specialists, Schoeller to produce the first "softshell" garments; climbing trousers.
Mammut's "Qogir" softshell jacket won the Performance Award at this year's Winter ISPO Award. Another enterprising Swiss mill, knit specialists Eschler, have produced a ceramic "microdot" infused polyurethane coating that offers protection for the jacket's shoulders and elbows.

Polyurethane and ceramic abrasion protection technology has only become commercial recently, with a number of fabric manufacturers and coatings people producing superior abrasion resistant materials for high end apparel and gear (namely backpacks & hold-alls). A new company to come to the fore is Superfabric.