It all sounds fascinating, but there are a lot of questions about whether they can make this work. Voormi is a tiny brand, located in the equally tiny town of Pagosa Springs, Colorado, and isn't well known outside of the hardcore skiing and climbing communities. The Drift Hydro is one of just three pieces Voormi makes that uses Core Construction, although more are on the way, and it costs $400. Voormi makes all of its clothing in the U.S. from exclusively U.S.-sourced materials, down to the sheep that produce the wool. That's admirable, but even with flexible domestic manufacturing, you likely won't find thousands of these on store shelves.

But Voormi isn't aiming to necessarily become a giant clothing brand. Smith said the goal all along has been to license Core Construction to other companies, much like how W.L. Gore licensed Gore-Tex. From the beginning, Voormi has really been two companies: the clothing maker side and a research and development arm called SWNR (Starting With New Rules).

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