“The world doesn’t need more products that have a short lifespan, and then you throw them away and they become waste.”

Rather than selling you something new once every season, Karlsson would rather you wore your Houdini pieces all day, every day, for as long as possible. And if it gets a hole or two along the way, no problem. Repair and wear.

So for three decades, Polartec has worked hand in sleeve with Houdini to support their mission of making longer-lasting, better-performing, more versatile gear.

Our partnership with Houdini looks a little something like this: We meet, discuss their needs, hear their ideas—then our mad scientists go off to design new fabrics to make them happen. Houdini keeps pushing the pace, so we speed up to match them.

It was at a session like this, not too long ago, when Houdini presented an idea. They wanted to make a new Houdi that would take breathability and versatility to another level. One with the sweat wicking of a base layer, the insulation of a midlayer, and the ventilation of an open window. Something that could insulate when it was cold, then ventilate the moment things heated up.

What our scientists came up with was Polartec Power Dry Net Mesh—an entirely unique base/insulation material that captures nature’s most powerful force for moving around heat and moisture.

The Pace Flow Houdi was born.

What’s warmer than a hug, cooler than a cucumber and lighter than a feather? Air.

To make a new Houdi that could insulate as well as ventilate, Houdini needed lots of air. So they went with a rather unconventional design for a midlayer: mesh. Houdini thought they could take the mesh concept beyond just warm weather wear. What if they applied the principles of air management to make a garment that could perform across an extremely wide temperature range?

Worn under a shell, the Houdi traps air for ventilation. Worn on the outside, it’s an extremely breathable jacket that can keep you warm during high-pace activities. And because of the advanced bi-component construction of Polartec Power Dry, the new Net Mesh fabric in the Houdi also grabs whatever sweat vapor is left on the inside and transfers it to the outside for efficient evaporation.