When Protection Breathes

Polartec’s recognition as a Top 5 ISPO Award 2025 winner in the Mixed category celebrates our success at pioneering a new era of breathable, non-PFAS weather protection designed to keep you dry from the inside out. 

Rethinking Outdoor Performance

For years, weather protection has followed a strategy of sealing the elements out – even if that means sealing heat and humidity in. Sure, these membranes kept precipitation at bay, but they also trapped sweat, creating discomfort long before the weather ever became a real threat. The outdoor world accepted the trade-off because there wasn’t a viable alternative.

Now, Polartec has raised the bar by creating a top-class nanofiber weather protection membrane that works with human physiology, not against it: the industry’s first non-PFAS proprietary hydrophobic polymer used to create a nanofiber membrane, to be exact.

Enter Polartec® AirCore™

The introduction of Polartec® AirCore™ marks a fundamental paradigm shift in outdoor weather protection. Developed with a proprietary polymer platform used for the first time in outdoor apparel, this hydrophobic nanofiber membrane achieves true air permeability (0.4–1.0 CFM) while maintaining both wind and water resistance. But the real game changer is that AirCore™ “breathes” together with the user, venting heat and humidity to keep your microclimate dry.

With an MVTR above 25,000 g/m²/24 h, non-PFAS chemistry, and recycled face and back fabrics, it represents a new class of protection that is lightweight, exceptionally breathable, and responsibly engineered for high-output activities. 

ISPO Top-5 Award Winner

Polartec is thrilled by its selection as an ISPO 2025 Award winner for the Montura Ritmo PTC AirCore Hooded Anorak and Ritmo PTC AirCore pants, both of which will be available in FW26/27. We’re even more excited that we’ve secured a place among the Top 5 innovations in the Mixed category! 

ISPO’s international jury recognized that Polartec® AirCore™ delivers something the industry has been trying to achieve for decades: premium protection that lets athletes move, breathe, and stay dry from the inside out. No matter how you look at it, Polartec® AirCore™ sets a new benchmark in breathable weather protection and ISPO’s high five is just the start. 

AirCore™ Changes the Future of Outerwear

As elite athletes continue to redefine the boundaries of movement, their gear needs to keep pace. We get it. It’s the driving force behind our longstanding commitment to innovate beyond the status quo and design materials that make every outdoor experience feel better, last longer, and leave a smaller footprint on the planet.

Polartec® AirCore™ proves that comfort, environmental responsibility, and high-output performance are interconnected needs. Our new ISPO Award proves that weather protection will never be the same again.

Welcome to the future of breathable weather protection.