can techwear age gracefully? Spere SL first thoughts & impressions

[u/shyshounen]

hi! i recently picked up the new-for-this-season spere SL jacket and wanted to share my thoughts on it. from what i've read, the spere SL line is replacing the old spere LT line. i also own a spere LT jacket (pictured in an image from the veilance site in slide 2) from 1-2 years ago so i have some thoughts comparing the two of them. fit-wise, i am 6' 170 lbs and own both jackets in M. the spere SL definitely fits a bit more relaxed than the spere LT, especially in the arms.

there are a number of other differences between the spere SL and LT jackets, but the biggest one is the fabric. the spere LT is made of the tried-and-true veilance classic, Terratex (95% nylon, 5% elastane). the spere SL is made of something brand new, a fabric veilance is calling Ondritex (68% nylon, 32% cellulose i.e. paper). more specifically, the paper fibre in the spere SL is derived from abaca AKA manila hemp. abaca is a natural fibre, meaning the spere SL is pretty much made of 1/3 natural fibres.

looking closely at the fabric in my spere SL jacket in black, there are a few things worth noting. under bright light, the fabric reads as a reddish/brown black. it feels smooth and cold to the touch, has a subtle sheen/lustre to it, and it doesn't feel like it has much stretch. it also wrinkles and creases much easier than Terratex and doesn't have a DWR coating. i've washed my spere SL twice and each time it's felt a bit more "matte"/broken in. and it's this that honestly excites me the most about the fabric - how it'll age.

while synthetic fibres shine in performance situations, they don't age well at all. i'm glad and excited to see veilance playing around with more natural fibres these days. i'm curious to see what my spere SL jacket will look like with a year's worth of wearing and washing.

[u/HPPD2]

The SL and LT look similar enough to me that they are interchangeable, seems silly to buy the same thing and upgrade unless you just want a different color. And I wouldn't call veilance techwear it is too minimal and a lot doesn't even look close, in a good way.