Hard Face Is Back!

We just spent the last five weeks here cutting and sewing over 700 Hard Face Hoodies and Vests. Just a few more bundles of Men’s Vest to finish up at this point. Our sewers call it ”Easy Face”, because it cooperates so nicely on the cutting table and sewing machines. Some new colors are now available in almost all sizes.

Cafe Aster for the ladies. This pattern is also available in Black (Nite Aster).

Men’s Vests in Cinder, Red Rum, Bark and Lichen.

Womens’s Hoodies: Pistachio, Nite Aster, Night Violet, Frosty, Cinder, Cafe Aster, and Aqua Drops:

I got to spend a few wonderful days with friends in the North Cascades backcountry earlier this month. Wore a Hard Face Hoodie every day as my mid-layer. Our Hard Face fabric strikes a perfect balance for active winter use: more breathable than any softshell, and better protection from moisture and wind than your average fleece.

High Loft Hoodies

High Loft Hoodies are back in stock – we just finished up sewing a batch of over 500. This fabric is the “extreme warmth” version of Polartec’s High Loft fleece – super warm, highly breathable, ridiculously soft & comfy. Unfortunately, it is difficult and messy to work with. So while nobody here enjoys cutting and sewing High Loft, everyone loves wearing them!

We added a couple of new colors with this batch, including Dark Magenta, hanging here in our front window. That’s the Odd Fellow’s Hall that you can see reflected in the glass, a cool old Leadville building. Also our dump-score antique Raleigh bike parked below.

Women’s colors: Glacier, Graphite, Grizzly, Dark Magenta.

Men’s Colors: Graphite, Grizzly, Grass.

Snow In The High Country

We’ve had some nice early season snowfalls here in Leadville. Sure feels lucky to get out skiing in the backcountry in early November! Here’s a few pics from last weekend.

Squeezing some turns in between the rocks.

Amanda is still rockin one of our older softshell jackets.

Sweet!

A glimpse of our new softshell jacket, still under development. Available later this winter…

Wind Pro 200 Colors

We just finished sewing up a big batch of Wind Pro 200. Maybe 250 pairs of sweats, and 150 Hoodies. Most of the colors are repeats, but there are a couple of new colors and related two-tones. Check our website for the full selection of colors. Sorry about the washed-out photos, our photography skills need a bit of work …

Men’s Sweats on the left: Blue Night, Black, and Pumpkin. Women’s Sweats on the right: Peacock, Black, and Ice.

Hoodies L to R: Men’s Blue Night/Peacock, Women’s Peacock/Aqua, Women’s Wasabi/ Deep Purple.

Here’s Drew rockin an older color on Leadville’s famed Mineral Belt Trail, with Mt Massive in the background.

Next up, about 500 High Loft Hoodies.

Mountain Gazette Ads

We’ve been advertising regularly in the Mountain Gazette since 2001. It’s a fun publication with drunken literary aspirations. And it’s free! We try to change up the ad for every issue. Here are the last two that we ran.

This shot is of Dave and Amanda on the ridge on Little Bear, a cool 14er just east of Alamosa. This was a really fun summit, but even the standard route shown here has a lot of dangerous loose rock. We were lucky to be the only party on the mountain that day.

This is our buddy Zach approaching the Taggert Hut near Aspen last April. Great trip with some super fun spring skiing, and a bunch of cool guys from Boulder.

More Micro Grid, ASAP!

One of the many recurring problems with having a clothing factory is that we constantly have to make more product. Dang! For this next couple of weeks, we will be trying to finish up a big batch of Micro Grid tops before we move on to Wind Pro Sweats and High Loft Hoodies.

Javier sewing flaps into the zippers of his pile of 25 Zip Tops.

The master of Micro Grid.

Cindy edge stitches some more zip flaps for her pile.

No laughing!

Dag Larson Photography

Most of the photos that we use in our ads and website are taken by us here at Melanzana. Usually they are little bit amateurish. This past year an aspiring professional took some great photos for us, featuring Melanzana hoodies in some awesome central Colorado locations. Thanks Dag! http://www.daglarson.com/

The classic Independence Pass boulder problem “Jaws”.

Three from Hanging Lake, a super scenic spot above Glenwood Canyon.

Two more taken on Lake Dillon.

Flatseamer #9

This is one of our flatseam sewing machines, we call it “#9″.

We rescued this old beastie from a shut down sock factory in Wyoming. Note the large oil stain. Leaky! After switching up over $1200 in new parts, and fiddling around for days (months?), we eventually got #9 to make a nice seam on our Power Dry baselayer material. It’s been huming along for over a month now, this post better not jinx it.

Matt working today on some Women’s Tanks, just in time for winter…

Sorry ladies, he’s taken!

New softshell jackets underway

We are hard at work developing a new version of our softshell jacket. Want proof? Seda is sitting on it!

A fresh shipment of Powershield Pro softshell fabric arrived Friday.

This new fabric is a big step forward compared to the Powershield material we used in our last softshell. The “Pro” version of Polartec’s Powershield has much improved breathability, better water repellancy, and a lighter & less rubbery feel.

The previous version of our softshell - this one is maybe 5 years old.

The new version is a hoodless evolution of the above, with improvements throughout. Better material, much lighter overall weight. More warmth and better breathability. No pit zips – don’t need em! Super deluxe euro zippers. Improved wrist & waist hem closures. Twenty sizes! That’s right, twenty sizes, regular and tall versions in both Men’s and Women’s sizes. We can’t give you any more information at this time, no firm date, no final price. Just know that we are hard at work getting these developed, and that we have the material in the house. Good things come to those who wait!

Customer Photos!

Folks are always emailing us photos of themselves wearing their Melanzana. We love these pics, doesn’t matter if they are cute, goofy, or a little nuts. Obviously, we’ve got all kinds of customers, and we try hard not to discriminate. Here are some recent classics…

Justin sporting a mullet and a hoodie. (On the way to Boise?)

The Fehringer kids back home in Nebraska after visiting Leadville.

Sam and Samantha on a CMC trip in the Gore Range.

Mary in DC with the Obamas!

The Snydermans on a hiking trip in Switzerland.

Daniel rocking out in his Scrap Cap.