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The Future is Now: Columbia’s Thermo Boots

A sci-fi adventure film made 20 years ago spawned the idea at Columbia Sportswear of making a temperature-adjustable boot.

Early November 2009 snowfalls may have been a portent of things to come, even if artificially induced, but people may have wondered if dragging out the extra clothes and blankets was really necessary during a relatively mild December in Beijing. Alas, a bone-chilling cold front accompanied by the heaviest snowfall in 59 years on January 2 eliminated all doubt: winter has come to China’s capital.

It was just for days like this that Columbia developed its Buga Thermo Boot, promising all-weather warmth for Beijing’s outdoorsmen and women.

On December 14, 2009, Woody Blackford, the leading innovator of the Buga Thermo Boot, who also serves as Columbia’s director of global innovation, brought the temperature-adjustable boot to the Columbia Beijing Flagship Store at Sanlitun Village for their China launch.

The Buga Thermo Boot relies on a three-temperature heating system. Forty, 50 or 60 degree centigrade heat is produced by built-in rechargeable batteries that last from four to eight hours on a charge. Heating is controlled by a three-setting LED control on the ankle. They feature the Columbia Omni-Tech waterproof-breathable uppers and Techlite lightweight cushioning footbeds and midsole.

Blackford said the boot was inspired by the American film Back to the Future II; he said he still remembers Michael J. Fox, a character in the film, wearing a temperature-adjustable jacket over 20 years ago, “I kept this in mind, and when the development of technology made everything possible, the Buga Thermo was made.”

Blackford joined Columbia in September 2005 as a senior designer of men’s apparel, and was named design director in 2006. In 2008, he was promoted to director of global innovation, where he now focuses primarily on product technology, research and development and fulfilling a life-long goal of developing products that change people’s lives outdoors. The Buga Thermo Boot took him 3.5 years to create.

For Blackford, working in Columbia is a happy experience. He said it’s a company where the staff can have long-term plans and get enough support to turn a concept into a viable product, because the company is well-established and well-capitalized. “Why not?” is what he asks himself at work whenever he and his team members come across an innovative idea. Thus he has participated in the making of several hundreds of products, keeping in mind the key philosophy of the company’s products: to allow people to dress comfortably.

“It's never too late” is the approach Blackford brought to Columbia when interviewed for a job vacancy by the already 80-year-old-plus top-boss Gert Boyle. “She started her career at the age of almost 50 when many others would have been thinking about retirement,” Blackford said. It was Boyle who rewrote the history of the Columbia Sportswear Company.

The Making of Columbia

In 1937, Gert Boyle’s parents fled their native country, then the Nazi-controlled Germany, and resettled in Portland, Oregon, in the United States. In the following year, the family purchased a small hat distributorship, the Rosenfeld Hat Company, and renamed it the Columbia Hat Company, headed by Boyle’s father, Paul Lanfrom. Because of problems the father met with his vendors, he transformed the hat company into a sportswear firm and began manufacturing his own jackets, fishing vests and shirts.

Ten years later, Gert married Neal Boyle who subsequently joined the family business. He became the company’s president in 1963 when Gert’s father died. Unfortunately, Neal Boyle died of heart attack in 1970 leaving Columbia to his wife, a mother of three.

At the time of Neal Boyle’s death, Columbia was generating US$650,000 a year in sales but was on the brink of insolvency. Despite lacking managerial experience, Gert Boyle appeared in the company’s headquarters the day after her husband’s funeral and took over the management of the three-decade-old family business.

Bankers, leery of the company’s prospects, were reluctant to extend credit, which caused things to go from bad to worse, forcing Gert Boyle to consider selling the company. But when offered only $1,400, Boyle refused and decided to forge ahead. Later, after Boyle’s son, Tim, the current president of Columbia, graduated from a university, he joined the company.

Columbia’s financial situation began to improve under the determined control of Gert and Tim Boyle. They got credit after pledging Columbia’s US$200,000 manufacturing facility. In 1978, Columbia reached the $1 million mark in sales and also earned a reputation for excellence in its hunting and fishing apparel.

In the 1980s, Columbia experienced explosive growth. Its annual sales rose to US$12 million in 1983 as its production expanded resulting from its overseas manufacturing, which also enabled Columbia to make its apparel items at a significantly lower price.

In the year before Columbia began manufacturing overseas, its "Interchange System" was introduced, which consisted of a lightweight shell jacket and a warm liner that zipped together, giving the wearer three jackets for various weather conditions. In 1986, Columbia entered the skiwear market with a parka called the “Bugaboo,” featuring the company’s Interchange System of layered outerwear, which became a nationwide hit. 

Viewing a prosperous future, Tim Boyle announced in 1991 his intention to reach US$1 billion in sales by 2000.

In 1993, the company began selling denim jeans, vests and shirts under the “Tough Mother” brand as well as a rugged, outdoor Bugaboot footwear that were advertised using Gert Boyle’s tag line, “My Mother Wears Combat Boots.” Meanwhile the popularity of the Columbia label grew significantly aided by the perennially popular image of “Mother Boyle,” by then in her 70s, in print and television advertisements.

Tim Boyle not only realized his aim of US$1 billion sales value but also went far beyond that. In 2007, Columbia saw a net sales value of US$1.36 billion. Columbia is now known as the largest sportswear manufacturer in the world with more than 10,000 retailers in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand.

 Columbia 让户外运动温暖如春

文/薛京晶

2009年12月，Columbia在北京三里屯VILLAGE户外概念店推出了全球限量版“御寒电热战靴”。据发明此款产品的美国科研专家Woody Blackford介绍，这项新科技最大的亮点就是在鞋内设置了可充电电池进行加热保温，使足部保持温暖，并且可以抵御户外零下 89摄制度的低温。而该限量版“御寒电热战靴”在全球范围只推出了 3000 双，其中在中国境内推出了100 双，为大量爱好户外运动的人们带来耳目一新的感受。

总部设在美国的Columbia创建于1938年，从成立之初的小型帽子分销公司发展成为目前全球最大的户外服装品牌之一，也是美国滑雪服装销售之冠。时至今日，Columbia在世界超过90个国家和地区建立了13000余家零售网点，并在北美、欧洲和亚洲设有销售办事处，拥有全球雇员近3000人；旗下品牌包括Montrail、Mountain Hardwear、Pacific Trail和Sorel；产品种类涵盖外衣、运动服、鞋类及配件等五大类。

现年84岁的Gert Boyle是品牌的创始人，同时还以“坚毅母亲”的形象成为该品牌的代言人。她要求对于每件产品都进行严格的标准测试，使其可以抵御最恶劣的天气，这由此也促使了“妈妈为你守护”的产品理念风靡世界。

多年来，Columbia不断开发出大量极具创意的产品，被誉为“产品创新者”。其中，于1982年推出的以“转换系统”（Interchange System ）为理念的夹克最有影响力。该夹克主要为捕猎活动而设计，具有防水外层和可拆卸的保暖内胆，实现了“一衣多穿”，自推出后畅销世界。另外，自1991年成功推出防水、透气的Omni-Tech面料后，经过不断改进和发展，如今的Columbia已是全球生产专业户外防水、透气服装的最大供应商。此外，Columbia推出的Omni—Shade 服装还被美国皮肤癌基金会誉为“有效保护皮肤，不受日紫外线伤害”的面料。

作为美国保护联盟（Conservation Alliance）的成员，Columbia在自身发展壮大的同时，服务社会的理念也与日俱增，不断致力于人道协助、自然和环境保护、发展艺术和教育机构的社会工作。

对于未来的发展，Columbia将不断为广大户外运动爱好者提供最佳的产品，引领人们享受“户外新生活”，感受融入自然的乐趣。