Topo Designs from Topo Designs on Vimeo.

Mill Tour - Raw Wool to Finished Fabric from Woolrich on Vimeo.

The Colorado outdoor gear brand Topo Designs has teamed up with Woolrich, the oldest operating wool mill in the country, to make three beautiful woolen Made in USA products. 

The products include Topo’s Klettersack, a wool dopp kit and a wool duffel bag. Details include contrast zippers, cord loops and natural leather tabs. The wool used for the bags is reminiscent of the blankets Woolrich supplied to soldiers during the Civil War. 

Topo Designs is known for creating outdoor gear that works great but also retains simplicity & doesn’t take away from the spiritual experience of exploring the outdoors. “We wanted to take off our bag or coat for a rest on the trail and feel like we were removing a little piece of who we were and not a piece of gadgetry that just didn’t meld into that natural environment,” said founders Mark Hansen & Jedd Rose, who grew up exploring the west using hand-me-down gear from the 1970s. 

Woolrich has been continuously operating a vertical woolen mill since 1830 when founder John Rich started selling woolen products to local lumber camps from a mule cart. Woolrich provided blankets to Civil War soldiers, and it now makes everything from a wool coat your great-great grandfather may have worn to a parka that’s all about the latest in advanced technology. 

Source: ComplexStyle, by Gregory Babcok

–

Shop 100% Made in USA at Made Collection