Obergurgl Works With Design Studio From Tyrol To Reduce Climate Impact

Between Serfaus and Fiss, surrounded by a breathtaking view of the surrounding mountains, is the location of the design studio for functional clothing: polychromelab. Focus: product design and technology, sustainability and quality, and research and development.
Polychromelab was founded in 2012 by Michele Stinco and his wife Elisabeth, after whom Michele won the Austrian State Prize for Industrial Design in 2011.

After many years of experience as an international product designer, Michele created an ideal breeding ground for innovation and technology for polychromelab - and in the same year it was founded, polychromelab® won 4 awards in the areas of industry, sustainability, material design and outdoor. Today the company is based on the pillars of resource conservation, production and development. Not only does outdoor clothing have a high-quality design, but also very intensive use of sustainable materials.
Pattern development at 1300 meters.

As a product designer for the outdoor industry (terrex, Mammut, Saleva, Dynafit, Fjallraven, Falke, ÖSV ...) Michele Stinco has been working on sustainability in technical textiles since 2000. When shooting the video for the Tyrolean Innovation Award in 2014, Michele Stinco said: "Nature is our godfather, RnD our motivation, clear design is our unique selling point." In this way, he and his wife succeeded in expanding and expanding the range to be able to offer an exclusive range of outdoor clothing and alpine workwear today. Alpine reversible jackets in various color combinations, Covid masks with antiviral equipment, reversible ski overalls for Marcel Hirscher, and ultrasonically welded jackets made of alpaca wool are part of the product portfolio. New to the range this year is alpine workwear, created in cooperation with Bergbahnen Obergurgl.

Most of the workwear is developed from upcycled components. For example, the waterproof outer layer of the clothing is obtained from salvaged Firscher nets and processed into a sustainable 3-layer laminate in Italy. The fleece of the outer jacket is made from 80% recycled polyester from PET bottles. polychromelab was able to win the Green Product Award 2021 with the products from the alpine Proof line. As a representative for Design Austria, polychromelab with Alpine Proof is nominated for the Design Intelligence Award 2021, a worldwide industrial design competition. b the waterproof outer layer of the clothing is obtained from salvaged Firscher nets and processed in Italy into a sustainable 3-layer laminate.

The fleece of the outer jacket is made from 80% recycled polyester from PET bottles. polychromelab was able to win the Green Product Award 2021 with the products from the alpine Proof line. As a representative for Design Austria, polychromelab with Alpine Proof is nominated for the Design Intelligence Award 2021, a worldwide industrial design competition. b the waterproof outer layer of the clothing is obtained from salvaged Firscher nets and processed in Italy into a sustainable 3-layer laminate. The fleece of the outer jacket is made from 80% recycled polyester from PET bottles. polychromelab was able to win the Green Product Award 2021 with the products from the alpine Proof line. As a representative for Design Austria, polychromelab with Alpine Proof is nominated for the Design Intelligence Award 2021, a worldwide industrial design competition.

Applied field tests in the Science and Practice Laboratory

With the Alpine Proof outdoor laboratory, polychromelab realizes research and development. At the Kühtai location, Alpine Proof is developing further with the Snow Center Tirol research institute (set up at the technology location of the Management Center Innsbruck). “Weathering on Demand” is the approach for the future. Here, tests are carried out in a real environment with sensors, images and weather in order to not only consider products for the demanding cable car world as a whole, but also to improve individual components. With the cooperation of Schneezentrum Tirol, MCI Innsbruck and polychromelab, questions from real research as well as very specific questions, such as the behavior of textiles in the rain,

For polychromelab, the focus in the last and next years has been specifically on employee health, especially for professions in the Alpine region and tourism. This is where the basis of polychromelab® "Alpine Proof +20 | 20-" was laid, which is state-of-the-art in terms of thermal gelation, resilience, usability as well as lightfastness, abrasion values ​​and sustainability. During the three years of development by polychromelab, the Obergurgl mountain railways, the Tirol Snow Center and external testers from the alpine world of work, a clothing system has been created that will help all employees in tourism to stay healthy in any weather, to be representative and to contribute To achieve climate neutrality.