Fast forward another couple of hundred years and we can see examples of duck nesting sites in Norway being protected. Eider was harvested by Norwegian communities and stuffed into both clothing and blankets.
George Finch, an Australian chemist, is acknowledged as the father of the modern down clothing industry and the first step on our tour of the history of down jackets. Although eider has been in use as a decoration on clothing and hats, his use of the material was key in helping one of the first attempts on Mount Everest.
Finch is not only known for his work on crafting clothes that would protect climbers from the deadly cold temperatures at the peak of Everest. He was also the first person to propose using bottled oxygen as a way of preventing oxygen starvation at extreme altitudes. Bright green in colour and made from billowing balloon silk, the jacket was easily seen on the white slopes and peaks of the mountains.
Up until , and for a number of years afters, climbers wrapped themselves in layers of wool and tweed. Like Mallory, many of them never returned from their climbs, their lives ended by exhaustion and cold. Given the unsurprising life-persevering qualities of down, it remained one of the biggest open secrets in the world.
Until the s — enter the era of the puffer jacket. The concept is simple: wind that penetrates a permeable shell creates a fluffing effect that makes the jacket swell, insulating the wearer further. A puffer jacket is nothing more than another way to describe a down jacket.
Times move on and the phrase seems to be arcing towards the dustbin of phrases that have fallen from grace. Note: Eddie Bauer, an outdoor enthusiast, is credited with inventing the puffer jacket back in The story goes that, after nearly succumbing to hypothermia on a fishing trip, he designed a new garment that would keep him warm, and alive, no future excursions.
These garments have been made to the order of Captain Finch of the Mount Everest expedition". Behind the scenes, Alpine Club leaders were sending each other notes mocking Finch's puffer jacket. Early in the expedition, the use of oxygen was banned and Finch found himself out of favour. After being observed repairing his own boots — something a gentleman would never do — deputy leader Colonel Edward Strutt was heard to remark, "I always knew the fellow was a shit".
But Finch's skill and ingenuity did start to win the respect of the men. Expedition photographer John Noel wrote in his diary, "Finch, who had a scientific brain, invented a wonderful green quilted eiderdown suit of aeroplane fabric.
Not a particle of wind could get through. Later in the expedition, Finch wrote in his journal, "Everybody now envying … my eiderdown coat, and it is no longer laughed at. Mallory was given the first chance to climb the mountain.
In his tweed suit and without the assistance of oxygen, Mallory failed to reach the summit. Days later Finch was finally allowed to climb using his down jacket and oxygen system. Finch reached 8, metres — the highest any person had climbed — before his exhausted partner forced his retreat. London's Alpine Club returned to Everest two years later in George Mallory led the climbers.
George Finch was not invited. Instead Mallory's partner for the attempt was third-year chemistry student, Andrew "Sandy" Irvine.
Robert Wainwright wonders what might have been if it were Finch climbing with Mallory, rather than the young and inexperienced Sandy Irvine.
And they both should have survived. It's part of the mystery," he said. Could You? Would You? In the '50s and '60s, the quilted silk bed jacket for indoor use only gained popularity. When the '70s ushered in a newfound desire for hardworking womenswear, New York-based designer Norma Kamali launched her Sleeping Bag coat the original style still sells today and the modern reworking of the Skyliner was born. In the hands of '90s ravers, jackets designed by alpine experts Moncler and French ready-to-wear label Naf Naf offered staying power, i.
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