One Solution Multiple Ways

not a jacket, "the" jacket

Life was never meant to be about stuff or instantaneous gratification. Life is about living and stuff is there to enable our cherished experiences. Stuff serves people and not the other way around. VIEV is for those who want more from life by breaking the cycle of accumulation. We design smart products that do as much as you do. Our first solution is a jacket that is intended to enable the experiences that are worth having every day; it doesn’t need to be replaced after one activity, one day, one month or even a decade. We believe that everyone has the capability to experience more, by having less.

perfect detail; felt, not seen

The beautiful thing is that the technology, features, bells and whistles are hidden to the naked eye deliberately, by design, as an extension of adaptability reflected in the quotidien. Ergonomically perfect solutions make up the pockets, hoods, cuffs, zippers, vents, drape, joint articulations, on and on and on. Built to fight the angles of life with fluidity, grace, and purpose. Cleanly and thoughtfully designed to a classic aesthetic. Go anywhere. Look remarkable. Do good doing it.

weightless

Waterproof and breathable. Yes. But, weightless and warm? Yes again. When the package arrives in the mail, your first instinct is going to be: there isn’t anything in the box. Shake. There really is a jacket; a warm, cozy, waterproof jacket in the box. You’ll notice your jacket is also as quiet as a churchmouse and as soft as the fuzz on an apricot. That churchmouse is wearing a VIEV jacket and doesn’t even notice. You can drive, hike, work for hours and forget that you ever put it on. You can read the specs, but unless you’re running around weighing all of your jackets, the one true test is to hold it in your hand. It’s going to almost float to the ceiling.

less as a design standard

Sustainability isn’t about living with less. Making less better is. Sustainability is about living effectively, engaging with thoughtfully crafted resources. VIEV is an exercise in speculative design, an endeavor anticipating a problem that doesn't yet exist and then solving that problem. We intend to bridge enduring style and lightweight, adaptable materials to create a way for you to move from one moment to the next seamlessly. One jacket for the curious type, the learners, the doers, the engaged — engineered to replace the overly specialized jackets that the outdoor industry and the fashion industry have crowded your closet with.

change — being nimble

The 21st century will be equivalent to 20,000 years of progress at today’s rate of progress; organizations have to be able to redefine themselves at a faster and faster pace.” —Ray Kurzweil, Director of Engineering, Google (via Thank You for Being Late, by Thomas L. Friedman).

Thomas Friedman calls the era in which we live today “the era of accelerations,” which is unsettling because past experiences don’t necessarily provide help for charting the future. We have to behave in a relevant way today — everyday. VIEV is the derivative of a growing need for sustaining a solution oriented mindset in a world where we are afflicted by change. Never underestimate the power of versatility.

born from necessity

VIEV is an amalgamation of applied science, freedom of thought, and “speculative design” committed to generating apparel responsibly; i.e. one perfectly designed entity that replaces many casualties of indiscriminate thought. It is the pulse of what’s next, actively listening and participating in the social conversation to discover unthought-of problems and more intuitive solutions to help navigate the ins-and-outs of an ever-changing world, your world. VIEV is the brainchild of a team of whom we affectionately call “experimental futurists” at Gore who observed the seismic shift in how we work, rest, and play and decided to do something about it.

function forever #goretex

We love greatness. Inherently, we always think there’s a better way. In that spirit we lean heavily on the penultimate fabric, GORE-TEX, as a starting place designing for versatility, adaptability, function, and wearable durability. If greatness is measured by the test of time, GORE-TEX fabric wins. It’s been keeping people warm and dry in the outdoors (everywhere, actually) for more than four decades. Note, GORE-TEX technology has been to the moon, so wherever you plan to go, you’re good to go.

collaboration — for the greater good

Our collective experience highlights and reinforces how connected we all are and how important it is to work together with other businesses and organizations. VIEV’s partnership with bluesign®, OEKO-TEX, and the Sustainable Apparel Coalition contribute to the continuous effort to mitigate environmental impact by placing emphasis on respecting resources. The goal is to advance systemic change within apparel companies by sourcing materials responsibly and working collaboratively and transparently with consumers.

#makelifework

W.L. Gore & Associates has been a leader in product responsibility for over 40 years, not only within the fabric division, but in healthcare, aeronautics, electronics, etc. (even Formula One race cars, which, is very cool) — all areas that help make life better, a phrase which we take personally, helping make life work. While Gore’s history in innovation and research is industry-leading, it all comes in collaboration with others with an intention to make continuous improvements producing materials and product solutions responsibly.