AN INTERVIEW WITH 686 FOUNDER MICHAEL AKIRA WEST



What exactly is featherlight fabric?

At its core, our proprietary Featherlight™ fabric is a lightweight durable Nylon fabric with Spandex for the proper amount of stretch and recovery.

What lead you to developing featherlight pants and shorts?

At 686, we always start with fabrics before anything is conceptualized or designed. In our mind, the proper fabric will eventually lead to the proper design and purpose. Technical Fabrications that perform is our specialty and this is how it started. We had a great baseline to work from which was our 686 Everywhere® fabric which we also built from the ground up. In short, my intention was to develop something that had similar properties as the Everywhere, but Lighter, more Breathable and ideally more Durable. These are properties that are equally challenging to check all the boxes.

What was the development journey like? Any trial and error or did you nail it right away?

The process took nearly 2 years to complete from concept to delivery. You have something like the Everywhere® series that worked well-I mean it tried and true so why even do something else? My mantra is everything can be improved and the cool thing during the process is we discovered that it can bring a new user experience. In this case, the Featherlight is suitable to be worn in warmer climates but still have the “dryness” and less “spongy” feel as a traditional Polyester fabric.



Any failures along the way?

Of course, we ran into issues but mostly with the fabric itself. I don’t want to get too technical, but when you develop something light, you tend to loose strength in the fabric itself as well as stretch. You want it to stretch the right way, but also recover equally. In addition I like the dry hand and drape so it lays nice but not too supple. Lastly, the economics of the materials actually cost more since we’re trying to do a lot with less room.



How do you wear your featherlight pants and shorts?

I personally wear the pants nearly year around, but more so in Spring into Fall. I also tend to size down a tadd only because I like how the fabric feels closer to my skin as is floats very nicely, almost to the point I don’t feel it at all. The shorts are great for warmer, dry and humid climates. 



Who is featherlight for?

Featherlight is a great addition to those that already have the original 686 Everywhere® pants and shorts that want an alternative to something lighter (33% lighter!), more breathable (36% more!) and slightly more durable (25% more). If this is your first time trying any 686 products, then I’m stoked to see how you like it.