Monowai Fleece Tee's Maiden Voyage
From William's Journal:
Taking Cloke garments on a true field test is a highlight of my job. It takes me out of the office and on an adventure into our beautiful country. Last year, we were busy developing a brand-new fleece tee. The design brief was simple: make it usable, make it comfortable, make it subtle, and make it brandable. As soon as we'd taken brief to product, the new fleece tee needed its maiden voyage.
Because of the brief, I chose to take the fleece tee to my favourite camping location, Mavora Lakes campsite. There, I would test its usability on a 13 km hike, its comfort while failing to catch trout, and its moisture performance when opening a rowdy can of Speights.
The Kiwi Burn track is only 20 minutes from the campsite. Due to its excellent lunch spot, muddy flat in the centre, and hill climb at the end, it was the perfect first test for the fleece tee. After only an hour of hiking, I stopped for an undeserved lunch break at the hut and a short rest. Following the hut was a challenging section through a muddy flat riddled with deer prints. This section made the sweating start, which the fleece tee graciously concealed. The final part of the track was a steep, rooted section passing along the side of the hill. Because the fleece tee was so comfortable, I forgot about what I was wearing and concentrated on my footing to avoid a nasty slip. There would be no showers to wash off mud later.
The campsite is located between the North and South Mavora Lakes, with a gentle river flowing between them that is full of trout. Since I had my trusty fleece tee on, I figured the chances were high that I’d catch a fish for dinner. However, despite my best efforts, I only hooked the occasional rock and I gave up completely when I snapped the line and lost my lure. Even though the expression of a frustrated fisherman shone on my face, the fleece kept me cool and relaxed. Since I couldn’t blame not catching a fish on anything but myself, I opted for a fix of Southland’s finest Speights to relax. Because the tee handles moisture so well, when I opened my beer and its sprayed all over my tee, it dried quickly, and I soon forgot about losing half the beer, since I opened another…
The maiden voyage was a success. The tee was comfortable, warm when the wind blew, and handled moisture just how I hoped. Naming the tee was the final piece of the puzzle. After much deliberation, we settled on Monowai Fleece Tee. Why? Because Monowai is a lake situated in the west of Southland and just north of Lake Hauroko, except Lake Monowai doesn’t have a reputation for gale force winds. The river off Monowai feeds into the Waiau River, a popular recreation spot where the uniform there is exclusively fleece tees.
Now, I left the final part for you: Try the fleece tee for yourself and brand the garment to your heart’s desire.