09
de Novembre
de
2015
On 4 April 1983, the NASA astronauts Story Musgrave and Donald Peterson climbed out of the Challenger space shuttle and floated in space wearing suits made of Gore-Tex. The well-known waterproof and breathable fabric has come a long way since its origins in the basement of its founders in Delaware. The company that makes the fabrics with the best insulation and protection against the cold, favoured by mountaineering fans, has even seen its product on the Moon.
Brand heritage
The end of the 1950s was a time of discovery for mister Bill Gore. While working for the DuPont chemical company, he proposed the use of polytetrafluoroethylene to insulate cables. This showed that there were many possibilities when it came to insulation. Gore and his wife, Viève, went on to found the family company in 1958 in their basement. A few years later, during the 1960s, the couple's son obtained the first patent and with it recognition for the new invention.
In 1969, the cable insulated with the new system went with Edwin Aldrin Jr. and Neil Armstrong to the Moon and NASA used Gore-Tex for the space suits of its astronauts in its first space shuttle mission. Since then, the company has gone from strength to strength, presenting new waterproof and breathable fabrics that can even be used underwater or others that eliminate human body odours.
Excellence and style
The company recently announced that Bayern Munich coach, Pep Guardiola, will be Gore-Tex's global ambassador for the next four years. "Guardiola fits perfectly with the brand's image, because he has credibility in the world of sport, but also in the fashion world, and his values perfectly align with those of the Gore company," says Adolfo Tannenbaum, the company spokesman. Gore is a firm that values leadership, innovation and excellence, "values that Guardiola defends and shares," says the company.
A revolutionary technology
The main advantage of Gore-Tex fabric is that is combines great lightness, a high level of water resistance, which provides protection against water, wind and cold, and efficient breathability that helps removes body heat caused by physical exercise. These characteristics make it the ideal fabric for open-air sportswear and mountaineering garments.
The W. L. Gore & Associates firm lost the patent to this fabric 20 years ago, which means that other companies and brands now use fabrics based on the same technology for producing the material, sometimes at a lower cost.
Whatever the case, as the point of reference it is, many companies prefer to use their fabric in their products. Gore provides licenses to companies in many different spheres, such as mountain sports, athletics, sailing, motor sports, casual wear, fashion and lifestyle products. "Brands like Arc'teryx, Adidas, The North Face, Salomon, Lowa or Timberland, Camper, Clarks, Ecco, Galvin Green, Herno, Prada, Sail Racing, Visvim, Hugo Boss or White Mountaineering make products with Gore-Tex technology," says Tannenbaum. Moreover, Gore guarantees all of the products that use its technology.
As well as allowing other brands to use the insulating fabric, the company makes its own products that not only comply with technical requirements but also feature aesthetic quality. In fact, for its line of cycling wear, Gore employed Armani designers.
Not only shoes
Gore is a globally-known company but, apart from its fabrics, the multinational has other divisions that are not so well-known. Surgery may seem a field that is a million miles away from the focus of the business, but that is not the case. Gore has four main divisions: electronics, medicine, industrial and textile. While the latter is the most popular, "the medical division accounts for 50% of the company's turnover," says the company spokesman.
Gore technology is also to be found in electronics: cables inside aeroplanes and satellites, or mobile telephones. The old insulation for cables in planes was very heavy and affected aircraft fuel consumption. By using insulation from Gore, weight was reduced and with it savings in fuel consumption.
Gore's medical products are perhaps the most surprising. "In the world today there are some 18 million people who carry some sort of Gore-Tex component inside their bodies," says Tannenbaum. The company produces medical elements for the cardiovascular system, in the form of implants that substitute veins and arteries, as well as materials for hernias. Gore's medical products are not rejected by the human body and do not produce adverse reactions, and they are even used for operations using keyhole surgery. In fact, the company's main client in Spain is the Social Security department. As for the rest of the divisions, the industrial division develops products that are favourable to the environment, such as filters and protective components for the chemical and thermic industries.
There is no end to the curious anecdotes about the applications of Gore-Tex: Apple phones use the material to reduce interference from other appliances, Wimbledon removable court covers are made of this material, some 90% of car companies use some element of Gore-Tex and the latest rhinoplasty techniques also use this material.
Research, the tip of the spear
The chemical technology company employs some 10,000 people in 37 countries. Here, Gore has headquarters in Sant Joan Despí and will soon move near to Glòries, in the city of Barcelona.
The company came fourth in the ranking of the World's Best Multinational Workplaces by the Great Place to Work Institute in 2014.
This year, the firm made profits of 3 billion dollars. Of this, a large part goes into R&D i. While the company prefers not to reveal an exact figure, what is clear is that it produces results: Gore can pat itself on the back for being one of the few companies in the world capable of introducing major innovations into footwear in recent years. It recently presented Gore-Tex Surround, a shoe that provides 360º waterproofing, while also being breathable.
Although other companies make similar products to those of Gore, none of them has been able to beat this company's reputation for the latest research.
Brand heritage
The end of the 1950s was a time of discovery for mister Bill Gore. While working for the DuPont chemical company, he proposed the use of polytetrafluoroethylene to insulate cables. This showed that there were many possibilities when it came to insulation. Gore and his wife, Viève, went on to found the family company in 1958 in their basement. A few years later, during the 1960s, the couple's son obtained the first patent and with it recognition for the new invention.
In 1969, the cable insulated with the new system went with Edwin Aldrin Jr. and Neil Armstrong to the Moon and NASA used Gore-Tex for the space suits of its astronauts in its first space shuttle mission. Since then, the company has gone from strength to strength, presenting new waterproof and breathable fabrics that can even be used underwater or others that eliminate human body odours.
Excellence and style
The company recently announced that Bayern Munich coach, Pep Guardiola, will be Gore-Tex's global ambassador for the next four years. "Guardiola fits perfectly with the brand's image, because he has credibility in the world of sport, but also in the fashion world, and his values perfectly align with those of the Gore company," says Adolfo Tannenbaum, the company spokesman. Gore is a firm that values leadership, innovation and excellence, "values that Guardiola defends and shares," says the company.
A revolutionary technology
The main advantage of Gore-Tex fabric is that is combines great lightness, a high level of water resistance, which provides protection against water, wind and cold, and efficient breathability that helps removes body heat caused by physical exercise. These characteristics make it the ideal fabric for open-air sportswear and mountaineering garments.
The W. L. Gore & Associates firm lost the patent to this fabric 20 years ago, which means that other companies and brands now use fabrics based on the same technology for producing the material, sometimes at a lower cost.
Whatever the case, as the point of reference it is, many companies prefer to use their fabric in their products. Gore provides licenses to companies in many different spheres, such as mountain sports, athletics, sailing, motor sports, casual wear, fashion and lifestyle products. "Brands like Arc'teryx, Adidas, The North Face, Salomon, Lowa or Timberland, Camper, Clarks, Ecco, Galvin Green, Herno, Prada, Sail Racing, Visvim, Hugo Boss or White Mountaineering make products with Gore-Tex technology," says Tannenbaum. Moreover, Gore guarantees all of the products that use its technology.
As well as allowing other brands to use the insulating fabric, the company makes its own products that not only comply with technical requirements but also feature aesthetic quality. In fact, for its line of cycling wear, Gore employed Armani designers.
Not only shoes
Gore is a globally-known company but, apart from its fabrics, the multinational has other divisions that are not so well-known. Surgery may seem a field that is a million miles away from the focus of the business, but that is not the case. Gore has four main divisions: electronics, medicine, industrial and textile. While the latter is the most popular, "the medical division accounts for 50% of the company's turnover," says the company spokesman.
Gore technology is also to be found in electronics: cables inside aeroplanes and satellites, or mobile telephones. The old insulation for cables in planes was very heavy and affected aircraft fuel consumption. By using insulation from Gore, weight was reduced and with it savings in fuel consumption.
Gore's medical products are perhaps the most surprising. "In the world today there are some 18 million people who carry some sort of Gore-Tex component inside their bodies," says Tannenbaum. The company produces medical elements for the cardiovascular system, in the form of implants that substitute veins and arteries, as well as materials for hernias. Gore's medical products are not rejected by the human body and do not produce adverse reactions, and they are even used for operations using keyhole surgery. In fact, the company's main client in Spain is the Social Security department. As for the rest of the divisions, the industrial division develops products that are favourable to the environment, such as filters and protective components for the chemical and thermic industries.
There is no end to the curious anecdotes about the applications of Gore-Tex: Apple phones use the material to reduce interference from other appliances, Wimbledon removable court covers are made of this material, some 90% of car companies use some element of Gore-Tex and the latest rhinoplasty techniques also use this material.
Research, the tip of the spear
The chemical technology company employs some 10,000 people in 37 countries. Here, Gore has headquarters in Sant Joan Despí and will soon move near to Glòries, in the city of Barcelona.
The company came fourth in the ranking of the World's Best Multinational Workplaces by the Great Place to Work Institute in 2014.
This year, the firm made profits of 3 billion dollars. Of this, a large part goes into R&D i. While the company prefers not to reveal an exact figure, what is clear is that it produces results: Gore can pat itself on the back for being one of the few companies in the world capable of introducing major innovations into footwear in recent years. It recently presented Gore-Tex Surround, a shoe that provides 360º waterproofing, while also being breathable.
Although other companies make similar products to those of Gore, none of them has been able to beat this company's reputation for the latest research.