North Face is looking to the animal kingdom for inspiration for its latest jacket.
The $1,000 “Moon parka,” selling only in Japan, is a gold-colored jacket that uses the same design as typical North Face parkas. However, the item is made from a synthetic spider silk developed by Spiber, according to Bloomberg.
Interestingly, this isn’t the only company to be working on a similar product. Bolt Threads is partnering with Patagonia to enhance the brand’s fabrics for commercial use, Fortune reported Wednesday. A German company called Amsilk is also developing a type of thread for commercial products.
Spiber’s president Kazuhide Sekiyama invented the technology used to create the fake spider silk and said this will be the first clothing made from the material sold in stores. “What makes a protein-based material marvelous is it’s evolving,” said Sekiyama in an interview with the publication.
“The global market for textiles is $3 trillion, and we believe there is a huge opportunity for sustainably produced protein microfibers,” Dan Widmaier, CEO of Bolt Threads, told Bloomberg. “In order to succeed, companies need to be able to bring a wide range of advanced materials to market at a price that’s competitive with today’s fibers.”
