Even in the age of electric cars and AI generated everything, we’re still using the same three technologies to insulate most of our clothing. And they work mostly the same way.
Wool, down, and most recently, Primaloft (aka synthetic down) are all used to create “loft”—a fluffy substance that traps pockets of air. It’s that air that’s ultimately creating a barrier between you and the outside cold to keep you warm.
But now, Nike is taking this premise to its ultimate conclusion, and launching its first coats that are insulated by nothing but air. And to tweak their warmth, you can even pump them up and deflate them as you like.
The technology will debut in the Therma–FIT Air Milano Jacket, which will be worn by medal winners standing on the podium at the Winter Olympics this February. Nike calls the jacket “four jackets in one.” Deflated, it’s supposed to feel like a windbreaker. Inflated, it’s somewhere close to a midweight puffer.
After trying on the jacket earlier this month at Nike HQ, I’d say that’s precisely right—and even more so, it feels luxuriously soft to the touch. But more on the wear test in a minute.
Cracking the code of inflatable outwear
Nike has been designing inflatable jackets for nearly 20 years, since it first started putting air bladders in a coat for Nike ACG, its outdoor performance line. When the design team shared early experiments from its archives, I noted that all have that waterproof windbreaker look—and each uses different inflatable mechanisms, ranging from a blow straw, to a hand pump, to an iPhone and an app.
But Air Milano isn’t a jacket that contains some Nike air bladders inside. Instead, the entire jacket is inflatable. How is that possible? Years of iteration. First, Nike sourced a fabric that feels somewhere between a cotton comforter and a swim shirt. It somehow feels naturally soft and synthetically stretchy at the same time.
Nike takes two pieces of this fabric, and then welds them together at the seams, while adding a pattern of dotted welds in between to create baffling (think of baffling as architecture that channels air). Whereas most insulated jackets have to be constructed to keep insulation in place, with latitudinal structures that give them a ribbed look, Air Milan is created from computationally designed patterns that ensure air flow through the garment.
Eighty percent of these patterns were tested in software simulations and never built. As I walk around a display of Nike’s early material tests, I’m taken by the array of patterns Nike did attempt. Some baffling looks like the fine scaling of reptiles, while others look like marshmallow quilts. Some have sharp geometric diamonds, some burst radially in a way that almost feels floral.
Nike ultimately went with a baffling pattern inspired by the ACG logo—as this jacket will be Nike’s first attempt to bring the ACG brand info the greater public consciousness. Nike CEO Elliott Hill estimates that the outdoor segment represents a $130 billion market, and Nike would like to take a bigger chunk.
From prototype to finished product
Developing the jacket to functionally work was a long, difficult process. Early versions took up to seven minutes to inflate. They’d stay inflated 30 minutes max. (The design team would actually inflate the jacket only moments before presenting its progress to executives, so that it would stay puffy for the full meeting.)
Now, the jacket comes with a small electronic pump that fits in your hand. You plug it into a port near your waste, and it inflates in about 15 seconds. I’m told it will stay inflated, should you like, for weeks or even months.
The sensation of the jacket filling on your body is trippy. Your arms feel it first, as they Popeye outwards and begin to constrict your skin like a soft blood pressure cuff. Then you see your chest and stomach being filled as well. Once inflated, it took only a minute before I felt the heat. I started feeling a bit steamy, and I realized that the jacket doesn’t breathe (yes, Nike has some ideas to fix that—like adding small ports that, like Gortex, can keep heat in but allow moisture out).
It was just as wild to deflate it. All you have to do is pull another tab, and poooshhhhhhhhh, the jacket deflates back to where you started.
Nike built this jacket as a one-off product for the Winter Olympics, and it will not be coming to market in this form. But the jacket also demonstrates what Nike does best: It creates performance innovations that advertise themselves in an irresistible way. The jacket simply looks like it works differently than any jacket you’ve ever worn. And the Air Milano is really gorgeous to behold in person, as the baffling catches light and shadow, you can appreciate the technical efforts and high level of taste that went into the garment.
Jannett Nichol, VP, Apparel & Advanced Digital Creation Studio Innovation, confirmed that whenever Nike’s inflatable technology comes to the wider market, it won’t be cheap. Instead, the company sees the future of the ACG brand as the “pinnacle expression” of Nike. And as a material, that inflatable Therma-FIT surface could make its way out of clothing into outdoor gear as well.
Wherever Therma-FIT goes next, I’m glad to see Nike working on it. Few companies have the R&D resources and experimental know-how to really impact what the future of performance garments can be. And longer term, there is simply no way that down is a more sustainable option to insulation than pure air.
Besides, it’s just mind-bending to consider just how warm you can feel with a little fabric and a hand pump.