Schlagwortarchiv für: tirol

Exploring Innovation

Innovation in the Alps

Winter is icecold. Competion isn’t in hibernation. Fortunately our strength is the freezing cold. Exploring innovation polychromelab moved to Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis. Here we prepare our jackets for the iciness in two ways.

In the Alpine Proof Outdoor Lab on 2000 meters we’re sometimes feeling like the next ice age is coming up. We have state-of-the-art testing dummies for proofing our products against the freezing cold. This is innovation in the Alps. Read more on this in the post „Icy Innovation„.

winterjacken polychromelab innovation serfaus-fiss-ladis

Up against wind and weather, heat and cold, high UV radiation and frost isn’t enough for our approval. Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis offers a wide playground. On ski tours we’re testing our winterjackets for stretchability, at free ride skiing for insulation, at climbing for sturdiness and in town for lifestyle suitability. The team of Blog Tyrol shows what you can experience up here in 24 hours.

Innovation is our advantage. Against competition from large companies we proof polychromelab’s jackets for outdoor suitability like you really need it in the Alps.

Sewing without Needle and Thread

Winterjackets – Sewed without Needle and Thread

How do you sew a winterjacket without needle and thread? Polychromelab pursues innovative, visionary product design. Today we present to you our new ultrasonic welding machine.

Apparel manufacturers demand waterproof jackets. To do so they have to consider several things. One of them is the seam of a jacket. But how do you sew two pieces of textile together without making them permeable to water? We do this by using an ultrasonic welding procedure not using any needles and threads at all. This is something what makes a seam more waterproof. Here you’ll learn how the ultrasonic welding procedure works in detail.

wasserdichte jacken schweissen tirol produktion

We try to establish in our store TexStilKüche in Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis an innovation driven product development. This way we can monitor the research process more carefully. At the moment we are manufacturing in northern Italy. Distances are short and communication is easy, but in Tyrol with product development right at home we will be able to test new ideas faster and design custom-build products.

polychromelab concept store

Founding an Apparel Comany

Founding in Tyrol – Young Economy

Competing against established apparel companies is difficult. Founding an apparel company is a thing full of risks. As we already described there are many structures in Austria which help young startups to reach a greater audience and get some helpfull advice from the more experienced. Yesterday on the day of women in ecomony hosted by the Young Economy Tyrol (German: Junge Wirtschaft Tirol) we had a chance to do so. After ORF science-buster Werner Gruber we presented reversible jackets by polychromelab. Polychromelab is like exhibit A for women in economy because Elisabeth Frey and Michele Stinco, a woman and a man, are leading the company equally.

At Founder’s Symposium – Coworking Imst

Networking and integration on a local level is of huge importance to young companies. Exactly this was the main topic last week at the Founder’s Symposium of Coworking Imst: the apparel company polychromelab amongst other young companies of the region could present themselves and get to know like-minded.

These were great events to promote polychromelab’s webshop and store. To compete against established giants of the apparel branche this events are the best weapon for startups.

Startups from Tyrol capture the world

Tiroler Tageszeitunng about Startup polychromelab

A few days ago the Austrian newspaper Tiroler Tageszeitung published an article about chances for startups from Tyrol to become more famous. In this context they mentioned polychromelab as an example – which makes us very proud. Here’s the article about startups from Tyrol:

startups aus tirol polychromelab tiroler tageszeitung

Chances for Startups from Tyrol to Become Famous

This article inspired us to compose a short list of which programmes were most helpful for polychromelab as a startup company from Tyrol:

Let’s start with the startup show 2 Minutes 2 Millions on channel Puls 4. Polychromelab hasn’t gained financial support from this TV show, but we learned one or two things. It was the first time of a broader public appearence on television, so we learned how to present key elements of the company. Anyway, Puls 4 made a great image video for us.

In Austria there is financial support from AWS for small business as well. Startups from Tyrol could apply themselves and with some luck and a solid performance they gain financial support for their label. More about polychromelab’s experiences with AWS here.

On local scale the Tyrolean Innovation Award was the most exciting one. There were various categories, in which startups from Tyrol compete against each other. On the day of the price-giving ceremony of Tyrolean Innovation Award 2014 in Innsbruck the presentation of image videos of the participating startups impressed us most.

In conclusion, there are many opportunities and chances, many challenges, a startup must stick to its guns, but in the end there is the chance that you become the prime example out of startups from Tyrol to be presented at Standortlounge in Vienna. More on this here.

startups aus tirol standortlounge wien polychromelab

Enjoy Skiing while testing new Winter Jackets

One should really buy Winter Jackets for these Moments

After all this years of skiing in the Alps I am still impressed by the mountains: when I was a student I always got up at 4 in the morning to drive with some friends from Germany to Tyrol to be the first one on the slopes. Then as a snowboarder. By now I am testing as sports designer in the Tyrolean Alps for 15 years.

Skiing still means a lot to me. But this time, when I was under way with Elisabeth, atmosphere was breathtaking. Weather was really good, nobody was around, only fresh powder and a lot of fun. Testing new gray green winter jackets by polychromelab at deep snow skiing was big fun. To enjoy these moments one should choose well and buy winter jackets of high quality. Otherwise one couldn’t enjoy freeride skiing without freezing.

In our Onlineshop you can buy winter jackets that are proven scientifically and applied inTyrol. Have a look on it in our polychromelab concept store!

Greetings from Tyrol,

Michele Stinco

Sonja’s Bags Studio sews Accessories

Sonja’s Bags Studio engineers polychromelab Accessories

Sonja Zipperer carries a nice business called Sonja’s Taschen Atelier. The assoziations that come with the word bags studio don’t decieve: Sonja’s Bags Studio stands for quality and authenticity. It’s a true handwork, how bags, scarfs and decoration is engineered and manufactured in this sewing room in Tyrol.

This is why we’re so proud of having Sonja’s Bags Studio as a partner: since fall 2014 this Tyrolean sewing room designs polychromelab’s shoulder bags, cell phone cases and flipnecks out of our unique 3-layer-laminate in true handwork. All accessories Sonja Zipperer manufactures for us are reversible. This means they’re two-coloured and therefore wearable to every outfit – guaranteeing quality and functionality on both sides!

Accessories in polychromelab Webshop – handmade

Here’s a small overview about the accessories, which Sonja’s Bags Studio sews for us. Of course, all products are available in our webshop.

A functional scarf as perfect winter sports accessory: polychromelab Flipneck black / silver worth 50,00€

Shopper Shoulder Bag for men and women in black / silver or blue / bronze worth 70,00€

Stretchable Designer Cell Phone Cases for all smartphones in black / silver or blue / bronze worth 20,00€

All products are handmade guaranteeing quality from Tyrol. Buy these accessories in our webshop.

Blog about Freeride in Tyrol

Blog Tirol interviews polychromelab about Freeride in Tyrol

Blog Tirol interviews Elisabeth Frey and designer Michele Stinco from polychromelab about their work at the Glungezer and Freeride in Tyrol. Both Elisabeth Frey and Michele Stinco are passionate athletes, especially in winter when freeride skiing is possible. Mount Glungezer is a tradtional, small ski region in Tyrol, which offers outstanding freeride conditions and slopes. Here one can „experience nature originally“, it is one of the best places for freeride in Tyrol.

Here you can read the german article about polychromelab and freeride on Blog Tirol. Thanks for this great post!

If you like articles from Blog Tirol, you can follow them here:  Tyrol on Google+

And finally some impressions of a working day at mount Glungezer including an after work freeride skiing downhill. Enjoy the pictures!

High-Tech Jackets tested in extreme Outdoor Tests

Do high-tech Jackets keep their Promises?

Nowadays high-tech jackets have to stand up against nearly everything: they should be waterproof, windproof, stretchy, sturdy, hard-wearing, warming. light and looking good. Additionally one has to add to each one of these functions an attribute like „extremely, 100%, highly, maximum, optimal“ to tag a high-tech jacket.  Producers make many promises, but most outdoor jackets have to work for the first time, when the customer allready has bought the jacket and is wearing it in the mountains. If a jacket shouldn’t be a 100% waterproof then, one’s smitten.

Therefore the inventor of polychromelab reversible jackets, Michele Stinco, had the idea to test jackets under extreme alpine conditions, before it is available on the market.

 

High-tech Jackets tested in Tyrol

This is, how an original polychromelab-jacket-extreme-test looks like in practise:

Firstly, fabrics get spaned on wooden boards. Installing sensors we detect whether the fabric is suitable for outdoor use or not.

If the fabric is ready for manufacture, we design a reversible jacket. This prototype then is worn by dummies in our alpine laboratory at the Glungezer in Tyrol. Again we install sensors. Additionally we prepare a webcam to watch the jackets day and night for some months. Here you’ll find out what kind of weather high-tech jackets have to stand in our textiles research laboratory.

Then we evaluate the collected data. This way we’re able to detect waterproofness, windproofness and breathability by the means of temperature curves, humidity measurements and so on. By visual examination we can see, if outdoor jackets have been damaged by wind and weather or at seams and skirts.

If the prototype passes this test, we send it to the textile laboratory at the University of Innsbruck, where elasticity, scrub resistance and colour intensity get scientifically proven.

But there is one last test in our polychromelab 2610 alpine lab for the prototypes: the high-tech jackets get proven at applied extreme sports tests, like trailrunning, skiing, climbing and so on. Only this way one can proof what outdoor jackets have to be suitable for.

 

Alpine Proof – the Future of Outdoor Gear

Prospectively the project Alpine Proof will create an alpine seal of approval for outdoor gear to award high-tech jackets, which passed tests consiting of a combination of applied and scientific examination.

A true high-tech jacket doesn’t leave somebody out in the rain alone, but protects against wind and weather like a friend. High-tech jackets by polychromelab are available in our online shop.

polychromelab concept store