Down jacket warmth has a new standard
After the implementation of the new national standard, only down jackets with a down content of no less than 50% can be called down jackets. Compared with the old national standard, the biggest change in the new national standard is that it requires better down quality, stronger ability to prevent hair loss, and easier washability of down jackets.
The higher the velvet content, the better. For most consumers, too high a velvet content may be a waste. The mature down jacket market cannot blindly pursue high down content, but should choose different down content according to different consumption scenarios to better meet consumer needs.
As the temperature gradually drops in many places, the sales of down jackets have entered the peak season. Recently, reporters randomly searched on the e-commerce platform and found that, unlike previous years, the ingredient labels of most down jackets this year no longer show the well-known “down content”. Instead, a new formulation of “velvet content” was adopted. The reason for this change is that there are new standards for down jackets.
This year, the GB/T14272-2021 “Down Clothing” standard (hereinafter referred to as the new national standard) was officially implemented, fully replacing the 2011 version of the old national standard. After the implementation of the new national standard, down jackets have been redefined: only down jackets with a down content of no less than 50% can be called down jackets. As this is the first sales season after the implementation of the new national standard, what are the differences between the down jackets under the new and old national standards? What are the new trends in the down jacket market this year? How should consumers choose and buy?
“Compared with the old national standard, the biggest change in the new national standard is that it requires better down quality, stronger ability to prevent hair loss, and easier washability of down jackets.” As one of the main drafters of the new national standard, the Down Jacket Branch of the National Clothing Standardization Technical Committee Secretary-General Cao Zonghua said that the thermal insulation performance of down jackets mainly relies on down. In the past standards, the velvet content included both velvet similar in appearance to dandelion, and single strands of velvet that fell off the velvet. However, velvet not only has poor warmth retention, but also has the potential to become velvet. “The new national standard uses velvet content instead of velvet content, eliminating the velvet content, which avoids the illusion that high velvet content may bring to consumers, and consumers will be more clear about their purchases.” Cao Zonghua said.
The most troublesome thing for consumers when wearing down jackets is the phenomenon of hair loss. Previously, the old national standard did not assess the velvet and feather filaments in down that are prone to quilting threads. The new national standard not only limits the total content of the two, but also specifically increases the overall anti-down performance test. According to reports, by simulating the wearing scene of consumers, the down jacket placed in the rotatable box has to withstand the repeated impact of 24 small balls. The testers count the drilled down, velvet, feathers and wool pieces to prevent Down jackets with poor down quality are difficult to pass this test.
This winter, down jacket products under the new national standard will undergo market testing for the first time. Leading companies have recognized the positive significance of the new national standard in improving product quality, optimizing consumer experience, and promoting the industry’s transformation from low-price competition to high quality and high cost performance. However, at the same time, The new national standard also brings challenges to the cost and selling price of down jackets.
Some institutions predict that the market size of China’s down jacket industry will reach 162.2 billion yuan in 2022. “Fluffy zero-pressure large down”, “45 degrees north latitude white goose down”, “global gold down production belt”… The reporter noticed that on major e-commerce platforms, many merchants use the origin, variety and even color of down as promotional selling points , the price of down jackets also ranges from hundreds to a thousand yuan, or even over 10,000 yuan. According to experts, fill power plays a decisive role in the warmth retention ability of down jackets, and the origin and variety of down are not the core influencing factors of fill power. Each origin may produce down with different fill levels; while duck down and goose down with the same fill power, There will be no significant difference in its thermal performance. As for the color of the down, it only takes into account the different shades of down jacket fabrics. The color of the down filling should match the fabric and has nothing to do with warmth retention.
Since down type has nothing to do with warmth, why are down jackets filled with goose down generally priced higher than duck down jackets on the market? According to industry insiders, the price of goose down is about 1.8 times that of duck down, and it is often used in high-end down clothing products. The main reason is that the output of goose down is much lower than that of duck down. In my country, the number of commercial geese collected as raw materials is less than 15% of that of ducks. In addition, the breeding period of geese is longer, the smell of goose down is generally lighter, and the velvet is larger. Various factors have jointly pushed the price of goose down higher.
In actual purchase, how can we buy a more cost-effective down jacket? In response to the concepts that many consumers have that “the higher the down content, the better” and “the heavier the down jacket is, the better”, Cao Zonghua reminded that the higher the down content, the better. For most consumers, too high down content is not good. Sub-content may instead be a waste. For example, for consumers who have low price tolerance but have high requirements for warmth, it is obviously better to choose products with lower velvet content and higher velvet filling than products with high velvet content and low velvet filling. “The mature down jacket market cannot blindly pursue high down content, but should choose different down content according to different consumption scenarios to better meet consumer demand.” Cao Zonghua said.
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