Sneak Peak - Kokatat 2014

I am very excited about what Kokatat has in store for the 2014 season.  We had our Summer Sales Meeting yesterday which was a fantastic introduction and always leaves me feeling very well prepped for the big Outdoor Retailer Show in Salt Lake City in a couple of weeks.

Thanks to my friend Cynthia (former buyer and Sales Manager at Western Canoeing and Kayaking), I have a few photos to share.  Please note that Cynthia is actually a Women's Small and my samples sizes are all Medium.

With great pleasure I can report that Kokatat revisited their Women's patterning in their Destination Wear line up and the sizing is much more realistic for those of us that are not a size small :).

The fabric feels awesome and depending on the specific garment has 2 and 4 way stretch making for a very comfortable and well-fitting piece.

Men's sneak peak will be Friday.

 Here is the new NAVY colour available in the very popular, Maximus and Maximus Prime PFD's.  Note the yellow pipe stitching in the photos.  It's a great accent.

Another new ULC Approved colour for 2014 is YELLOW and it looks fantastic (sorry no sample yet).  It will be available in the Ronin Pro and Orbit Tour.

In PFD's there are only colour updates for 2014.  Some colours have been dropped so review your 2014 Workbook carefully.  No new models however I can tell you that if you were not bringing in the Maximus/Maximus Primes they were TOP sellers for us this season.

New colours in Women's Rogue Drytop.  Cynthia is wearing the canvas in photo to the right but it will also be available in Violet.  The response to the Violet colour was very positive by reps both male and female yesterday.  The Kokatat Design Team deliberated long and hard on just the right purple tone.  A success in my opinion.

Our Tropos, Tropos Light line up got some fantastic additions to it and my personal favourite is the Tropos Otter Jacket.  Available in Men's and Women's sizing.  The Women's is available in Apple (as seen in the photo below) and Crimson (burgundy colour).

It's a hybrid top so the underarms and back are made of Tropos Light and the rest of the garment is made of Tropos - lightweight, breatheable and waterproof at a great price point!  Best feature is the roll-away hood and the fact that they designed it so when it's up the water does not run down into the collar - see additional photo.
                                                          

The Destination Wear is probably what I am most excited about.  As mentioned above Kokatat did a great job redesigning both the Men's and Women's line from an aesthetics stand point and fit.  Above Cynthia is wearing the Women's Paddling Shirt in Coral.  It is also available in Pear and Canvas and comes in size small - XL.  Our pricing competes head to head with the likes of Patagonia and Ex Officio and looks great.  The zippers are accessible while wearing a PFD (always thinking ;) and the collar will fold up to give full neck protection.  A great detail is that the tops of the cuffs are longer to protect the tops of your hands while paddling.  I thought this was an awesome feature and there is a button on the collar to close it for protect but still allows you to have the zipper open for ventilation under your PFD.

Other garments available are the Paddling Pants, Paddling Capri and the Surf Trunk.  I LOVE the feel and fit of the pants and capris.  That material is a stretch woven blend of nylon and spandex.  Sizing is S - XL.

 These photos don't really do the pants justice as Cynthia is too small for the sample size and I am too big but trust me - they are awesome.

The small details like the graphic on the pant leg of the Capris adds some fashion-fun.

Details like this also appear on the Women's Surf Truck (see photo below).

The Destination Headwear was also re-designed and although I don't have my samples yet (they left today) what I have seen via video conferencing is great.  Same protection but better design and aesthetics.

 

We got some great new fabric colours in our drysuits, drytops too but I am going to save that for another day (I didn't have the heart to get Cynthia to put on drysuits in the kind of heat we have been having lately!!) AND last but definitely not least we have introduced the Icon Drysuit in a Limited Edition in both Men's and Women's.  The Icon was previously only offered in our Kokatat Jackson Kayak Collection and let me tell you the LE's look PHENOMENAL!!!!!  Stay tuned.

THANKS for your ongoing support of Kokatat - we sure appreciate it!!!