This time around, wool makes lighter, softer fabric for outdoor apparel

Nearly three decades after converting a generation of outdoor enthusiasts to synthetic fabrics, a growing number of sporting-goods makers are bringing wool back.

This time around, the companies are touting items made from merino wool, which is finer and more lightweight than standard wool and can approach cotton in feel. Companies like Icebreaker Ltd., a New Zealand-based outdoor apparel manufacturer, and SmartWool, a company specializing in wool ski socks and “base layer” (like long underwear), claim increasing sales. Citing consumer demand, sportswear maker Patagonia has also been gradually changing its product mix to include more wool in its base layers; now 57% of its “base layer” product is made from merino wool, with the balance made from polyester and recycled materials.

“Demand has increased dramatically,” says Chris Hawson, a buyer at Paragon Sports, a large sports specialty retailer in New York that says that wool-based products now represent 50% of its base-layer business.

Paragon’s Mr. Hawson says buyers who shop as much as ski like the fact that merino-wool items can be paired with jeans, slacks or a skirt without looking slummy or screaming sport. Examples include a long-sleeve pastel “modern blue” merino-wool scooped neck top by Patagonia for $90 that’s cut narrowly like a designer T-shirt, and a black T-shirt under Icebreaker’s Atlas Bodyfit150 line for $59.99.

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