Where Are Arcteryx Jackets Made?

Last Updated on September 24, 2023 by

Arcteryx jackets are made in a variety of countries, including Canada, China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Bangladesh, and El Salvador. The company has its own manufacturing facility in Vancouver, Canada, where it produces about 5% of its jackets. The rest of the jackets are produced by partner manufacturers in other countries.

Where Are Arcteryx Jackets Made?

Arcteryx, a Canadian company known for its high-end outdoor clothing and sporting goods, has been a leader in the industry for decades. But where exactly are their famous jackets made? Here’s a detailed look at the manufacturing locations of Arcteryx jackets.

1. Vancouver, Canada: The company was founded in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in 1989 and the headquarters are still located there. All the designs, product development, and prototype production activities are carried out at the brand’s base in Vancouver. Some of the Arcteryx jackets are still produced locally in the Vancouver area.
2. Portland, United States: In an effort to increase its production capabilities, Arcteryx has a factory in Portland, Oregon, United States. This location has been known to produce a sizable portion of the brand’s products, including some of the high-end jackets.
3. China: Like many companies globally, Arcteryx has outsourced some of its manufacturing to China due to comparatively lower labor costs. A significant volume of their apparel, including jackets, is currently produced here.
4. Bangladesh: Arcteryx has made a strategic move to increase its production capabilities by establishing manufacturing facilities in Bangladesh. With strict quality controls, this ensures that the jackets produced here are on par with those made in North America.
5. Philippines: A portion of Arcteryx’s manufacturing has also been moved to the Philippines where some models of jackets are produced. The company commits to maintaining its high-quality standards no matter where the production takes place.
6. Other Asian Countries: As a part of its global diversification strategy, Arcteryx has extended some of its production to other Asian countries. They haven’t specified which countries they exactly are, but jackets made in these locations uphold the same high-quality benchmarks the brand is known for.

Despite the geographical diversification of Arcteryx manufacturing bases, it is important to note that the company maintains stringent quality control at all manufacturing facilities, ensuring that each jacket adheres to the brand’s starndards, irrespective of where it’s made.

Important Points To Remember On Arcteryx Jacket:

Founded	1989 as Rock Solid1991 as Arcteryx
Founder	Dave LaneJeremy Guard
Headquarters	North VancouverCanadaBritish Columbia
Arcteryx clothing uses	For hiking and trekking
Manufacturing countries	ChinaCanadaIndonesiaBangladesh

Arcteryx

Arcteryx was founded in 1989, and the company has been emerging and continuing to progress in the outdoor industry and is still consistent and successful. All the business happens in the brand’s lab at its headquarters in North Vancouver. The work of the company includes prototyping to pattern making, sampling to testing, and much more. 

A few miles away from the headquarters in New Westminster, the brand Initiated Arc’One in 2016, a workplace of 243,000 square feet. The first factory is owned by the firm, which serves as the home to Special runs, small-batch tests, and significant prototyping creations. The Canadian factory yields almost five percentiles of the Arcteryx products to the commercial market. 

Initialization Of The Production Of Jackets

Even though the factory produces many products at different locations, the initialization of jackets was started only from the lab in North Vancouver. They work with prominent Designers, Experts, Material Gurus, Pattern Makers, and Machine Builders to do new-fangled testing. Arcteryx increases the agility in the trade operations to yield more products and new materials to meet the consumers’ requirements.

Apart from all these, Arcteryx products are available with a lifetime warranty. The company provides the product with robust security, ensuring a consistent lifetime product.

Ian Hoffman, the Arcteryx color guru, guides about the requirements according to different seasons. To choose the array of colors for the year 2020, they have formulated other teams, the color team with seven-person for men and seven for women. It is based on their Perception and color testing and research. The group conducts a color party post the color selection. 

Proving Yourself

Arcteryx designers often mock up a gear with multiple materials on both sides. For instance, the jacket’s left side is made from Gore-Tex’s fabric, and the right side is knitted with contrasting material. The finishing product with polar material is sent to the material lab to analyze which handle suits the best. At times the iterations are endless, and it takes years to complete the creation process. 

Dan Green, Vice President of Design, says that “There are a ton of cool things we do” and continues that they started making everything themselves, so they have knowledge of how the stuff is made and functions. It helps employees making tools in the woodshop to test the products. 

Then arrives the final design, from design to underarm fabric, from zipper seams to zipper pulls, everything is packed altogether and in different sizes. The garments are transported to the Arc’One factory for prototype and quality check. Once the products are qualified, it is transmitted for the production. 

More On The Journey To Create A Brand

The bay at Arc’One is located far away from the location at the corner of the warehouse. It helps to possess the minimum weather. Once the fabric and material enter the factory, the quality check team validates it before proceeding to the production stream. The automated cutting machine process the material to utilize it for progressive purposes. 

Dave Gardner, the training director of Arc’One, has been working for more than 20 years in the Arcteryx factory. He is aware of the entire process, from sewing a stitch to gluing a seam. Gardener says that the accuracy can be achieved in hand cuttings also, but it cannot meet up the speed limit that the machines provide in general. 

The sewing team with more than a dozen workers joins cut material with zippers, pull tabs to move further, and seam tapes. The step-by-step process is keenly monitored, which carries the jacket line and adds each component; there is no chance for errors. 

Finishing Process

The aspects of dealing things in different dimension results in utmost success, Gardner says and continues, “We have people who care.”

The assembly line of the company’s process consists of Lamination, Embroidery, Seam Sealing, Zipper, and Drawcord’s attachment before the process of finishing. Some of the techniques are handled manually and attached by hand. They are drawcord, grommets, snaps, cuff tabs, and toggles attachment process. 

Once the process is completed, all the products are sent to the final inspection. 

The vetting process includes the machines that sprinkle the water, pressurized at 3PSI in the fabric. It is done to evaluate the seam sureness and waterproofing quality. About the failure, Gardner says that years ago, he noticed the oversight, and till now, he hasn’t faced any error since he joined the firm. 

Creating Different Jackets

Alpha AR 35 is an innovative product that is emerging. The new liquid crystal polymer fabric is used to innovate the weaving process to make the material more compatible with alpine. The abrasion and tear resistance are given utmost importance. Designers say that the polymer ripstop grid with nylon is to ensure weatherproof strength. It is the world’s lightest alpine-ready packs on the market. 

The fresh Zeta SL Jacket provides Arcteryx with an emergency shell designed in particular for hiking. Utilizing a Gore-Tex fabric with superior packaging technology is designed for cold jacket packs with waterproof protection during ever-changing mountain conditions. 

When Alpha AR and Zeta SL release their new product, Arcteryx has new plans for the spring. They had planned to launch a new jacket for both men and women and a new outdoor shoe, and innovative lifestyle gear during the fall/winter of 2019.

Sentinel, the women jacket, and Sabre, the men jacket, take on an updated fit and style for fall 2019. To have an extra layer, they expanded the torso for more spaciousness and flexibility while moving. Arcteryx includes a softer flannel backer material from the inside to increase the comfort of using it. The outer layer is made up of Gore-Tex Pro material for waterproofing and windproof purposes to secure the exterior. 

Keep High And Dry

The new Norvan VT2 shoe enables an innovative fit by using a TPU shank injected into the sole for increased stability while climbing. The improved lugs are designed for traction, and the mesh upper protection from abrasion is for durability to breathe. 

Arcteryx created fabrics made for daily use to create an emerging lifestyle. Arcteryx also designed II Heathered fleece fabric for consistent thermal performance to ensure an excellent feel. Underarm gussets on the material are added to have flexibility and improvise the freedom of movement. The cover fleece elevated the streamline for fall by minimizing the bulk and seam by offering a minimalistic aesthetic. 

Usually, the Arcteryx jackets are expensive, because they use digital die-cutting technology to cut fabrics. These machines are more costly than manual machines, which involve hard labor and time to complete the stitching process. It is very costly because it ensures excellent standards and comfort for the users. It is waterproof, and the inner layers are filled with soft cotton to have an efficient comfort with ease. 

FAQs

References:

https://outdoorcrunch.com/where-is-arcteryx-made/
https://www.quora.com/Where-are-Arcteryx-jackets-made