After years of product development and successfully completing its own quest to produce the world’s best clothing protection against winter, SKOOKUMbrand® enters its highly innovative and distinctly Canadian anorak in the Yukon Quest, the world’s toughest sled dog race.
When Peter Ledwidge, a veteran Yukon Quest dog musher leaves Whitehorse in the sub-zero temperatures of February on his 1,000 mile dogsledding journey to Fairbanks Alaska, while relying on his SKOOKUMbrand® Yukon Anorak, Northern Garments Inc. (NGI) will officially end its own development journey. “Our anorak has been professionally designed over several years with a lot of input from Yukoners”, states designer Megan Waterman, “we have incorporated their suggestions into over six versions of the garment and we are now happy with the result”. She goes on to say, “even though we’re now comfortable offering this product commercially, we will always be considering feedback from our clientèle”, adding “our quest to produce the best will never truly end”.
SKOOKUMbrand® Yukon Anoraks are named after a First Nation word meaning Powerful, Strong, and Impressive. The highly innovative anorak was recently recognized nationally via Style Magazine’s Fashion Export Awards and internationally by Arpel Fur of Milan, Italy. Northern Garments is a newly formed company founded on principles of design integrity, quality workmanship, and, sustainable and respectful resource use. Within these parameters, it designs and makes high quality clothing and accessories – from the north, for the north.
Northern Garments’ next quest, according to co-founder Jake Duncan, is to ‘Skookumize’ the EU. The company is now focusing on exporting its distinctly Canadian garment to the European Union, where consumers demand the highest standards in quality and style. If these entrepreneurs work half as hard as the exceptional teams of the Yukon Quest – look out Europe!
Photo by Richard Hartmier
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