Sustainability is the official theme of this year’s OutDoor, with a slew of seminars devoted to the issue as it relates to the industry and its products. Two meetings on Thursday addressed sustainability from differing viewpoints. Rolf Pfeifer of eco-tourism association Forum Anders Reisen tried to draw parallels with the outdoor industry, examining its responsibility in times of global change. Under the title of ‘A North American retail approach to sustainability’, Kevin Myette of REI and Greg Scott of the Mountain Equipment Co-Operative (MEC) identified the lack of a comprehensive and cross-industry means of comparing products from an environmental, health and safety perspective as major problem. The US Outdoor Industry Association has set up the Eco Work Group to develop common language and metrics in relation to EHS score-carding. We’ll have more on the topic of sustainability in future issues of THE COMPASS;
Some 110 persons attended a presentation of fashion trends for Spring/Summer 2010 by IDEAS, the international association of sports designers, which showed at OutDoor for the first time. Inspired by the circus, the color card that they have jointly developed for the sports market is divided into five themes. Green is being described as the new blue, particularly in the outdoor segment. It can be associated with classical blue, brown and earthy reds.
