Arc’teryx Brings Heart And Innovation to Outdoor Gear
It’s a reflexive action. When we see someone wearing an article of clothing, we look for the logo. With so many brands on the market, it matters more than ever to find ways to stand out from the pack. Having grown up in Canada, I’d immediately feel a sense of pride when I’d spot someone wearing Arc’teryx, but beyond that, the brand was a mystery to me — until recently.
As a middle-aged mother of six struggling to reclaim my body, I wondered if their clothes would even fit my fuller figure. As a social sciences professor who encourages students to analyze the advertising around them, I went into the experience with a checklist of questions in my head — and the answers astounded me. Here are a few of the surprising things I learned about Arc’teryx while being fully immersed in their unique culture.
Fearless Innovators
You might have a preconceived idea of what the Design Centre at a company like Arc’teryx would look like, but you’d be wrong. It’s a premier brand, so it’s reasonable to picture corporate office space and matching egos. What you’ll find instead, though, is a hands-on think tank where people from diverse backgrounds come together to create some of the world’s best outdoor activewear products.
Their design process is obsessive and can take three years (or more!) for a concept to be ready for production. This is because the team pays meticulous attention to detail and what drives performance. In the meantime, everything goes through extensive testing before being put on the market. Fortunately, they’re pretty good at what they do — in 2017 alone, 603 distinct products were designed and developed at the Design Centre.
Made By Humans
Arc’teryx’s line of products is crafted with assistance from technology, but the process is driven by humans. Just step one foot into their Arc’One manufacturing facility and you’ll understand what I mean. They maintain a critical link between production and design to preserve that personal touch while delivering to the masses. That’s a hard balance to find.
One way they’ve accomplished this is to keep the design and manufacturing teams close to each other to facilitate innovation while maintaining communication. This is extremely important when you consider that it takes 796 minutes of detailing and attention to produce just one Cold WX Parka!
One thing you can’t help but get a feel for is that the workforce at Arc’teryx is personally invested in the quality of the product. As adventure-seeking world explorers, they want gear that will enhance their own experiences, whether that’s in the nearby mountains around Vancouver or a rock face in Chile. They understand the needs of the customers because they are the customers. This dynamic creates a level of dedication to perfection that is unparalleled.
When you decide to take up climbing and are dangling from the side of a mountain high above the ground, that’s exactly the type of company you want designing the harness, isn’t it?
Inclusiveness Matters
As I’ve worked on losing the weight after back-to-back pregnancies, including a set of twins (now two years old), it’s been a challenge to find good outdoor activewear that fits my fuller figure. There have been times when I was downright discouraged because I’ve wanted to do something, but worried I wouldn’t be able to because I couldn’t find gear in my size.
With fingers crossed, I stepped into a pair of XL Arc’teryx pants. Then, I slid on a jacket. To my great surprise, everything fit. In fact, it was loose. This was a shock because so many brands out there claim to offer XL clothes that just aren’t true to size.
They’ve Got Heart
Arc’teryx is a huge company spread across the globe, yet when you visit the production facilities and headquarters in Vancouver, Canada, you can’t help but notice that it’s run very much like a family. There are no corporate offices or executive egos occupying space — instead, people move freely across an open environment where dogs are welcome and creativity flows like electricity through the air.
It’s immediately clear that, on every level of the company, the people at Arc’teryx care about what they do. In fact, I thought at this point in my article I’d be able to mention a few names to highlight their efforts, but I can’t. Not because no one deserves it, but because everyone does. That’s so rare, it’s hard to even wrap my head around.
And maybe some of that love seeps into the fabric of the clothes, extending that feeling of warmth and adventure to customers. On the tour, we learned that when people send in damaged items, they don’t want a new jacket or backpack as a replacement — they want their well-used, well-loved item back so it can continue its journey. Arc’teryx understands how much these items mean to their customers, and they do everything they can to make it happen.
A Brand for All Seasons of Your Life
You may have read this and assumed that this is an ad for Arc’teryx. You’d be wrong. The opinions expressed are completely my own. I’ll readily admit that my heart is a little softer for Canadian brands, and I’m proud that Arc’teryx operates under the maple leaf. Beyond that, everything I’ve said is based on what was observed with my own two eyes.
Whether you’re in-store or browsing online, you’ll find gear to drive performance year round and through every stage of your life. While Arc’teryx takes their commitment to active living, the environment and their workforce seriously, at the end of the day, they really are just a group of humans coming up with crazy ideas to help other humans.