If you love hitting the slopes and are looking for a new jacket that’s both cozy and casual, Ryan Haj, one of our merchandisers, has a couple of suggestions. Recently, we sat down with Ryan to learn a little more about his role at Eddie Bauer and how it’s helped him enjoy Washington’s winter season.
What’s the favorite thing you wore on the shoot and why?
The Men’s 1936 Skyliner Model Down Jacket was my favorite piece for the winter shoot. It can be challenging to find a warm down coat that also looks stylish and casual. Most of the time, down coats are either too tech-loaded for the occasion, too puffy, or just plain boring. But the 1936 Skyliner jacket pulls off style and warmth where other down coats come up short.
Tell us something interesting about your job that you wish more people knew about.
I do my own stunts. When developing new technical products, it’s common for me and other merchants in the office to take these styles out into the wild. Whether we’re ski touring around Mt. Rainer or exploring the Hoh Rain Forest in the Olympics, we are putting these products to the test and getting valuable insight. Sometimes, a product fails, and we end up in a great deal of discomfort. Regardless, it all leads to a better product that performs at the level our customers expect from our brand.
Which Eddie Bauer piece is a must-have for cold-weather activities?
The MicroTherm® FreeFuse™ Stretch Down Jacket is one of our most versatile men’s jackets. It features 800-fill down and stretchy fabric that makes it great for layering under a shell or wearing on its own. It’s also more visually appealing than a traditional down jacket because it has a discontinuous channel weave pattern. The FreeFuse™ channel system doesn’t require stitching on the channels, which improves the structural integrity over a sewn-through channel and has the functional benefit of not letting the down clusters migrate. It’s the best representation of “form follows function.” I know my industrial design professors from my undergrad would be proud.
What’s your favorite way to unwind after a day on the slopes?
The only way to unwind after a long day on the slopes is a cold local lager in a hot tub with the jets fully blasting and good conversation with some friends, reminiscing on the best runs of the day and the close calls.
