Fly like a ReBIRD

Arc’teryx builds a new nest for garment circularity initiatives that are actually making a difference.

Words :: Feet Banks // Photography :: Mirae Campbell.

There was a time in my life when I used to scoff at down vests. Looking back, a huge part of this was probably because I couldn’t afford one at the time (or a down jacket either for that matter, these were my starving writer/student/hacky sack days…aka: 1995).

I attended school in Victoria BC, home to the most temperate climate of any city in Canada, and whenever I’d see some kid strolling to class in pajama bottoms and a highly technical (but sleeveless) insulation layer I’d grind my teeth a bit and mumble, “are you cold or not? Jeez.”

Of course, once I bought my first ever down vest (last year), I instantly understood. What a perfect season transitional piece! An essential autumn skateboarding piece you can dine in afterward. A great skiing warm layer in early spring! I love my new down vest—so colourful and procured from one of those B corp companies with great social and environmental platforms posted on its website.

Perhaps I loved that vest too much though. Around the six-month mark I noticed wear holes down near the waist. Then a pocket started bleeding feathers every half dozen steps… I reached out to the company for repair info only to hear, “Sorry, that’s only available in the United States.”

Moral of the story: I should have bought Arc’teryx. But we’ll get to that in a minute. First, some context…

Globally, the garment and fashion industry is an incredible resource draw and waste producer, and it’s getting worse every year. According to an article in the journal Nature, people are, globally, reportedly purchasing more than 60 million tonnes of clothes each year. By 2030 experts predict that will be 100 million tonnes.

Certainly, a lot of this is “Fast Fashion”—cheap, trendy clothes released almost weekly (read this Wired article about Chinese fashion giant Shein if you want to get super depressed informed about it), but the news gets worse…

…because each year the collective “we” apparently throw out almost as many clothes as we buy. According to a May 2022 report from the US National Institute of Standards and Technology more than 50 billion garments are discarded, globally, within a year of being made.

Which is horrifying. The planet is drowning in clothing. Ironically, that Nature article also states the fashion industry consumes anywhere from 20-200 trillion litres of water each year (second only to fruit and vegetable farming and higher than meat production). At the same time, the fibres released from textile washing make up somewhere between 20-35% of the microplastics found in oceans.  Don’t even ask me about the chemicals involved or the pesticides required to protect “natural” crops like cotton. It’s all very grim.

The obvious step that every single one of us can take is to buy gear that lasts, and make it last longer, as long as humanly possible. Ski and snowboard bums have been carrying this torch for decades—duct-taped outwear should be applauded. Even better, top outdoor gear companies are leading the charge on this front, paying strict attention to the materials, design, manufacturing, and full lifecycle of the products they make. This kind of corporate responsibility brings a glimpse of hope into an otherwise, extremely dark scenario.

Which is why I was stoked to roll up to the ReBIRD booth at the Arc’teryx Climbing Academy in Squamish in August of 2022. Long regarded as the leader in producing top quality gear and garments for any kind of mountain weather, Arc’teryx has been repairing and warrantying their gear since day one. What’s special about ReBIRD is how it combines existing initiatives and new ones in a single home for care and repair, upcycling, and resale.

At the pop-up ReBIRD booth in Squamish, repair wizards demonstrated how they can replace damaged parts or panels in what is otherwise a totally functioning jacket and how to test a garment’s waterproofness (with an awesome high-pressure machine they let me try out). They even explained the process for re-purposing unsalvageable gear to give the useable fabrics a new life (a jacket that’s lost all waterproof properties can be turned into chalk bags or lunch totes.)

Even better, ReBIRD is overseen by an old friend—Dominique Showers—and while she helped me pull out and model a gently used-but-really-kickass (and no longer available) pair of orange Pemberton Pants, Dom graciously took the time to answer a few questions and give me insight into how ReBIRD works, and why repairing, re-wilding, and re-purposing used Arc’teryx gear is more important now than ever.

Mountain Life: We’ve reached a point, as a planet, where gear that lasts forever should be every company’s goal. Give me a bit of history on this idea of ReBIRDing old Arc’teryx garments.

Dominique Showers: As a foundation, ReBIRD is a newly refurbished home for programs we’ve already been operating behind the scenes, with enhancements planned for future.. Our circular ecosystem is rooted in our commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions intensity by 65% by 2030.  ReBIRD was born out of the passion of our people inside our organization who saw the need to reduce materials and waste inside of our carbon initiatives. We launched repair within our warranty practices from the inception of the Brand  Care and Repair has always been in our wheelhouse and now operates under the name of ReCARE.

Selling refurbished used gear, as a program, was launched almost four years ago, in 2019, and now operates under Arc’teryx ReGEAR in both Canada and USA. Our commitment to ensuring we are manufacturing under strict, responsible standards started over 10 years ago and continues to grow with time. The platform of “ReBIRD” officially launched in 2021 but really we gave name and home to those programs we already had while committing to our circular initiatives as a whole. As of late, we have put even more focus on ReCUT which is our program committed to upcycling gear that can’t be repaired as well as solutions for how to better utilize end-of-roll materials.  What we show within ReBIRD to the public today is not all of the work that we are doing to support our circular commitments.  We are looking upstream at design solutions to better support a circular ecosystem here at Arc’teryx and are learning as we go.

ML: What kind of numbers are we looking at? How many pieces of gear will come in, get repaired, and given new life in a single year?

Dom: Keep in mind we were still at a limited capacity due to Covid, but in 2021 at the ARC’One facility in Vancouver we repaired 9500 units. That’s just one facility operating on highly complex repairs that take an average of roughly 1.5 hours to complete. In Europe, we have repair facilities in Switzerland, Norway, and more coming soon in the  UK.  We look to open additional regional repair centers in the US next year.  Meanwhile, Japan has three facilities, China has one.  There are more coming online to support our commitment to repair. Capacity was a major restraint for us during Covid but we’re moving ahead and training facilities as we speak.

ML: That sounds like it’s at scale, like the program is already making an impact. What about public-facing centres, where people can walk in off the street?

Dom: The number one question we get is  “how do I wash my Arc’teryx gear?” so, within our ReCARE program, we have committed to educating our guests so that we might be able to extend the life of our products. As a result, we opened the first in-store ReBIRD Service Centre in September 2021 at our Broadway, SoHo location in New York City—a 500 square foot service area for product care, Gore-Tex wash, DWR (Durable Water Repellent) application, and end-to-end product assessments. Since that opened, we were able to resolve on-site 75% of the cases that came through the door.  Since then, we have opened a second, smaller service centre in Toronto, and our largest-ever expression just opened in Boulder, Colorado. We are definitely looking to expand but still learning and evolving our commitments to Service as we scale.

ML: For the ReGEAR program, how does it work?

Dom: ReGEAR provides an opportunity to either trade-in gear that isn’t being readily utilized as often, and to get into gently used gear that needed some level of repair.  If it’s eligible for rewilding—meaning, if we think we can extend its life—Arc’teryx gear can be exchanged for a credit valued at 20% of the original price, that can be spent in-store, online, or on our ReGEAR site. There are some hidden gems that come through ReGEAR including older samples, warranty write-offs, QC fails that need to be repaired, and more.  The idea is that used Arc’teryx gear still has a lot of potential and we want to extend the life of every garment as long as possible. Anything that keeps great gear in action longer is going to be beneficial over time. The last place we ever want our gear is in a landfill.

ML: It feels like how you design the gear would play a role in how easy it is to keep it going. With something like say the Alpha jacket, does the fact that it doesn’t change that much make all of this easier?

Dom: There are definitely iterations and generations, even to a jacket that might look like it hasn’t changed. The weight may get lighter with time or the materials have evolved to enhance the performance capability. We evolve slowly and we are always thinking about durability and how to make it last. We look at the pieces like components of an engine that we know intimately. But yes, if you have an old jacket in need of a warranty repair that we can’t match the materials exactly, we will do a full assessment to ensure it will still function up to our standards, before proceeding.  Repairs are then completed with updated materials to support its extension of life.

ML: As more and more brands do this sort of thing, will we ever get to a point where any company will repair anyone’s gear to truly work towards the greater good?

Dom: The beautiful thing with circularity is it is a very open-source opportunity. We all have similar challenges and opportunities so it’s a very collaborative space in and amongst our industry.  With that said, we are focusing on keeping our own products in action as long as possible and, simultaneously, we are definitely open to encouraging, and learning from, others looking into, repair and beyond.

Thanks, Dominique! The ReBirded Pemberton pants fit like a dream come true and have become a staple in my autumn wardrobe. Here’s hoping more clothing companies follow the outdoor industry and Arc’teryx’s lead and work to keep clothing alive beyond a single user, season, or fashion cycle. And here’s hoping the near future will see the rest of the fashion industry following the trails companies like Arc’teryx are blazing right now.

Learn more about how and where to re-care, repair or return your cherished gear at the ReBIRD website.