From "MOB" to "Axio"

Teton Bros.'s standard base layers, MOB Wool and Axio Lite, are made in collaboration with Oshu (Ichinomiya City, Aichi Prefecture), which has world-class technology in wool processing and development.
This year marks the sixth year since we began our development efforts with Bishu, and our desire to "create something that would be nice to have, something that has not been possible to make until now" has come together with the passionate desire and wisdom of Bishu's engineers to "make it possible in Bishu to make things that have been said to be difficult to make..." and this has resulted in our products.
This is a column about the development history of the MOB (Masters of Bishu) series and the newly released "Axio 3D."

Like our MOB base layers, our Axio base layers are made in Ichinomiya, Aichi Prefecture, a region known as Bishu, a major producer of wool products that are highly acclaimed worldwide. From spinning the yarn to processing, dyeing, and final product manufacturing, the superior technology and know-how of Bishu are essential to Teton Bros. base layers.

Now that we have released "MOB," our next venture is a wool base layer for spring and summer.

Wool is an excellent base layer material, with heat retention, moisture absorption, and natural antibacterial and deodorizing properties. However, it has poor quick-drying properties, which makes it difficult to deal with sweat. MOB was developed to address this issue by knitting a completely moisture-free PP material onto the skin side, eliminating the sweat return problem.

However, "MOB" is a three-dimensionally knitted wool knit designed for autumn and winter, so it is not suitable for the warmer spring and summer months.
After much discussion with engineers from Bishu, they came up with Bishu's "Axio," a special composite material made by wrapping polyester filaments in wool fibers, which was already being used in many apparel products.

Although Axio was an excellent material that combined the benefits of both wool and polyester, it had some issues when used as an outdoor base layer: its low moisture diffusion rate made it difficult to dry.

The absorbed sweat is diffused to the surface of the fiber to promote drying. This is the "sweat wicking and quick drying" mechanism seen in polyester base layers, but wool fibers have low diffusion properties, so the absorbed moisture does not dry easily.

Teton Bros. therefore requested a wool blend fabric with improved fiber diffusion properties that would absorb sweat and dry quickly, making it comfortable to wear in the spring and summer. Bishu's engineers responded by achieving unparalleled sweat absorption and diffusion properties. The polyester filament has an irregular cross-section, providing a cooling effect when body temperature rises suddenly.

Also, since it's meant to be worn in hot weather, we wanted it to be as thin and light as possible. Therefore, we also received a request for the fabric's weight per unit to be lighter than the regular "Axio." The result was "Axio Lite," a base layer for the spring and summer season. The yarn has a smooth, even surface, making it comfortable to wear and resistant to pilling, a weakness of wool-blend fabrics.

This season, we've improved the Axio Lite into a base layer for the fall and winter seasons with a three-dimensional knit called the 4-way stretch Axio 3D.
The filament is made from polyester fiber recycled from PET bottles, and the three-dimensional structure eliminates the transparency of thin fabric.

Text by Nori Suzuki
Teton Bros. Founder / Skier