Vollebak selects rare Icelandic eiderdown for rare jackets
Vollebak has produced a very limited-edition jacket insulated with Icelandic eiderdown, just four tonnes of which is produced per year.
A video the outdoor brand posted on Instagram of eiderdown repelling water has been viewed more than three million times.
It said: “Icelandic eiderdown isn’t just the only naturally hydrophobic down in the world, it’s also the lightest down in the world. And the warmest. And the rarest.”
The down comes from Hraun, home of 3,500 nesting eider ducks. The people who manage these areas provide sanctuaries for the ducks. They create structures and habitats to help them lay their eggs safely and protect the birds from predators like seagulls, minks and foxes.
When the eggs are close to hatching, the eider farmers gently take some of the eiderdown from of the nests and replace it with dry hay. Once the bird and their young leave the nest, the farmers collect the rest of the eiderdown.
It takes 65 man hours and 66 nesting ducks to generate a kilo of eiderdown. The feathers are cleaned and then dried for four months.
Eiderdown production is so rare that twice as many Ferraris are produced annually than eiderdown duvets: a single duvet costs $3,700.
Vollebak has made a “handful” of coats, and will be doing the same next year.
