March 05, 2024

How Norwegian Wool Has Disrupted The Luxury Mens Outerwear Market

Grey Herringbone

Joseph DeAcetis

To some degree, mens outerwear and its brethren are in an exciting technological and transitional phase. Yet, even as technology is improving with advanced and "smart" fabrications, it has been unclear whether it is possible to develop accurate style and design while maintaining strong performance and comforting warmth. And so the industry's future seems to depend on creating new core textile advancements while exploring how to harness consumer desire for lightweight serviceable fabrications and modern sleek design. Such obstacles have prevented mens outerwear companies from pouring hundreds of millions into the hunt of the next generation of wearables.

Norwegian Wool's camel coat.

Norwegian Wool

And so the industry's future seems to depend on developing a solution in amping up its core technology while keeping a handsome design. It takes innovation and entrepreneurial spirit and a whole lot of sweat equity to take on market challenges and variables. Alas, Norwegian Wool.

Norwegian Wool's Navy cashmere coat.

Norwegian Wool

Norwegian Wool was founded in 2014  by Michael Berkowitz.  Mr. Berkowitz prides himself in having developed  the first generation of hybrid coats. Berkowitz states that "Norwegian Wool lends business men the opportunity to look sharp and professional without compromising on warmth and performance  when the weather drops'. All Norwegian Wool coats are waterproof and windproof.  Given the fact that I like most men have compromised appropriate style for warmth, I am looking forward to seeing Norwegian Wool achieve it's goals.  If Berkowitz can surmount the daunting barriers and challenges facing both the consumer and  the industry; then he will most certainly be the one to make the breakthroughs during this period of menswear rehabilitation!

We recently had the pleasure of interviewing Michael Berkowitz Founder and CEO of Norwegian Wool, about the transitioning and robust mens outwear market,  New developments in pairing down feathers with luxury wool and the importance of not compromising style for warmth!

Joseph DeAcetis: How did you go from working in finance to developing a forward thinking outerwear company?

Michael Berkowitz: When you are working in finance you always want to dress nicely. You are making presentations, and you’re in an environment where it is very cut-throat and what you say and what you do is judged, but also how you dress and how you present yourself [is judged as well], so I always want to look professional. My problem was that during the winter is that my nice coats were not warm, and my warm coats were not nice. I could not wear a big-puffy-bulky puffer that was not the right look. It was often too tacky with outward branding. It was not professional to wear that. It just did not look macho enough. My nice cashmere coats from Italy looked great when it was 45°(F) or above but the second it got below that or got rainy, or sleet(y) or snow(y), it could not hold up. I am like “This is crazy, we have to combine the two worlds into one; to merge the worlds of fashion and function.” I started making down-wool coats as a hobby and the next thing you know they sold out [and] it turned into a full-time business.

JD: In the over-saturated market of outwear, what is Norwegian Wool's comparative advantage?

MB: I think it is a combination of performance and luxury. I think that people expect every product they get, whether it is a low-level consumer good, a technology piece, or their fashion. People want it to have innovation and performance. Ultimately, if you are wearing a coat, you’re not just wearing it for a runway in Milan. You’re wearing it for real-life in New York, Chicago, Toronto; you’re wearing it to have a real life in the streets of those places, so I believe that people want to be able to have the warmth, the pockets, the necks, the zippers plus buttons, the ability to feel comfortable. The ability to drive a car, the ability to [move freely]; every guy that tries on a coat they want to move around and feel comfortable almost like they are not wearing it but to also be able to step outside and be able to combat New York City winters. So we are really one of the only players, if not the only player, to really do what we do.

JD: What performance innovations or steps did Norwegian Wool take to already existing outwear?

MB: What we have been able to do is put a down-lining into a super thin wool-cashmere shell so they have that puffer feel inside of a more sophisticated wool-cashmere piece. We also waterproof all the fabric at the same time. All of that warmth and function is inside of something that looks very tailored. To someone else looking at you, you cannot tell that you have a piece that’s test to -10°(F). To me wool and cashmere was not warm enough. Wool comes from Australia; Australia is a warm place. Down comes from Northern Europe and Canada, those are cold places. The geese are able to withstand the cold much better than the wool in Australia. I love down: it is light on the body and it heat regulates so that if you go inside a car or a train you are not sweating your butt off, but then you step outside and it kicks in. The warmth kicks in. I love down but I love the look of something more sophisticated. Something soft. The wool-cashmere. So I merged the two worlds.

JD: Is it important, these days, to dress for success?

MB: The most important character trait, personality trait, that people need in terms of corporate accession is confidence. You want to be able to walk into a room with broad shoulders. If you are not confident in what you are wearing and you believe that your coat that you are wearing makes you look like you are back in seventh grade it is hard to go and close the deal. It is hard to go and impress your boss. You need to go in looking [confident], and having a coat like that gives you broader shoulders. Sharp, razor sharp look; performance and luxurious. Technology woven into the fabrication has [allowed us to] utilize technology that blows feathers into very very small pockets. If this were to look big and puffy, the whole thing goes away.

JD: Can you discuss the benefits and setbacks of technology in the realm of current fashion?

MB: So using technology that is able to have tons of feathers in very very small pouches is very, very important to us and is something that could not have been done twenty years ago. Inner membranes that allow for the fabric to contour to your body and not affect the look and sophistication but still allow for the waterproof fabric [is a] major major technological improvement for us. In terms of general technology in the world for us, it is no question that e-commerce is a major, major player for us right now and that’s both a positive and a negative. The positive is that you can sell to places where you do not even have stores. At the same time, there is a saturation of product. It is hard to break through that noise, but thankfully, we have.

JD: Can you tell us about your standout piece(s) for this season?

MB: If you live in a climate that goes from hot summers to really cold winters, you need a couple of outerwear pieces that walk you through the various seasons. You need something that takes you through the winter months; you need something that takes you through the fall months. Our car coat is an absolute key piece. It is long enough to cover any suit jacket. We use it with interesting fabrications. We use very unique colors. Not your boring navies, but something like a French or British blue. Those car coats can really walk with you anywhere. You can wear it dressed up with a suit or tie or with a nice pair of jeans. Our hooded city-active parka is incredibly unique. It actually has a heavy down lined hood that can fold up into the coat itself. It can be half on one side, half on the other side, and this way you can have a formal coat when you go to the work meeting, and then you leave and it starts snowing and you can take out the hood. Lastly, we are now transitioning into lighter pieces. For the guys who love this concept for the winter but want something for the mid-cold days. Where it is a little chilly, windy, rainy, you need something that is high level performance with good pockets and good features. Same features of the performance and the sophisticated look. In order to solve a problem, you have to understand the problem.

JD: Where does the name "Norwegian Wool" come from?

MB: When I started making [prototypes] in Italy, they did not how to combat cold weather because honestly, Italy is not that cold of a country. I remember when my finance days when we had investments in Norway and that is a cold country. So I took the prototypes that Italy made, which were about eighty-percent of the way there, and flew out to Oslo, Norway, and partnered with a fashion institute there and asked them to take the prototype, and take it to 100%. I want it with a better collar, pockets where your hand and beyond is fully enveloped, and zippers plus buttons where you can zip it all the way up without choking you. They understood it because they understand what -10°(F) feels like and we took that technology and innovation from the Norwegians and put it into the Italian design. I always felt that Scandinavia-Norway was my inspiration for a clean sophisticated elegant look and they helped design it so [I named it] Norwegian Wool. 

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