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MAPP : Merino Advanced Performance Programme

MAPP MERINO, the fabric we use for all our own label ranges, is made by the world's leading company in the production of high-performance technical jersey-knit merino fabric, Designer Textiles, based in Auckland, New Zealand.

MAPP fabric is produced using exclusive 100% natural Merino fibres sourced from only the cleanest and purest unpolluted Alpine environment of New Zealand. MAPP incorporates these 'natural performance' fibres into fabrics specifically designed for synergy within the active outdoors.

MAPP is your guarantee of source, process and functionality, and unique comfort properties that make Merino so relevant to the way we live.

We use two weights of MAPP merino fabric: 195 gsm for our baselayers, and 260 gsm for our midlayers. The 18.8 micron 195 weight is the premium choice for base layer and 1st layer garment applications and is the new global industry standard. The 260 weight is a 21 micron fabric designed for functionality and comfort.  The non-pilling, superior knit-structure of Merino fine is the first choice for performance requirements in garment design for outdoor activities of all kinds.  No other textile manufacturing company produces fabric of the quality and performance of Designer Textiles MAPP Merino.

In addition, by using MAPP Merino, we can ensure that our gear is made with the minimum possible environmental impact, and the maximum animal welfare standards.  As we have said elsewhere, not all Merino is the same, and not all Merino growers use the same methods.  We think MAPP merino, produced in Auckland, New Zealand, is the finest Merino fabric for outdoor gear you can get, and the bonus is that by using MAPP fabric, we can also ensure the highest possible animal welfare standards through MAPP's use of ZQUE merino wool.

ZQUE Yarn

New Zealand-grown Merino sheep are reared and run on high ground, where fly strike isn't the problem it is in Australia, so the practice of mulesing has always been comparatively  rare.  ZQUE accreditation  takes matters several steps further.  As they state on their website,

“In life there comes a point at which you stand up for something good - Zque does so by representing a new fibre category 'ethical wool'.

Zque fibre combines natural performance wool with an accreditation program that ensures environmental, social and economic sustainability, animal welfare (non-mulesed) and traceability back to the source.

“ZQUE accreditation covers everything from "free range" conditions for the Merino sheep to the welfare of sheep dogs; from provision of shelter and comfort, to a strict no mulesing policy. “

Soil conservation and waste water disposal are also covered.  Importantly, it provides long-term contracts for farmers so they can invest in their businesses.   ZQUE is an accreditation process that takes responsibility for the total Merino production, and it is one of the first in the world.

Chlorine-free

Chlorine, combined with a polymer coating, is still used in countries like China to treat ordinary wool to make it smooth and machine washable.  Wool treated in this way has been found passed off as "Superfine Merino" and "Merino".  In addition, chlorine and polymer treatments, whilst posing no threat to the wearer of the end-product garments, lead to huge problems of ground-water pollution, in particular with dioxins.

Legislation in New Zealand prevents this.  In addition, Designer Textiles International is committed to exceeding minimum standards and using best practices throughout their supply chain to meet these responsibilities.  Their waste water is neutralised on site before being collected by the Local Water Treatment Authority.  Even air discharge from the mills is in compliance with NZ's strict legislation... so what comes from Nature is able to return for adventures back into Nature with a conscience that is as clear as the mountain air it came from.

Merino - the all-action fibre!

Apart from all the obvious reasons of comfort, odour-resistance, uv-protection, etc., recent research has revealed yet another reason why Merino is the fibre of choice for the  ‘action-man’.  According to a MAPP report, studies have shown decreased "activity" in rats wearing polyester and cotton/polyester blend underwear (Shafik 1993), but an enhanced ability in those wearing wool garments  – proving wool truly is a performance fibre!

These results were related directly back to measurements of electrostatic potentials generated in certain bodily structures – which were absent in the case of wool and cotton garments, but up to 501.6 V/cm2 in subjects wearing garments containing polyester. Similar trends have also been  observed in controlled studies on human subjects (Shafik 1996), with electrostatic potentials of up to 485 V/cm2 found in relevant areas of male subjects wearing polyester or polyester blend garments. Again, performance was shown to be reduced in these subjects but unimpaired in those wearing wool or cotton.

We were fascinated!!  We always said that wearing merino made you more attractive, as anyone wearing merino was obviously someone of taste and intelligence, but it appears that it improves life in other quarters too!