Rab push insulation innovation to new heights with AW27 Altitude collection

British outdoor brand Rab (owned by Equip Outdoor Technologies Ltd.) unveil their new Autumn/Winter 2027 Altitude collection – an extreme-environment insulation system developed for modern high-altitude mountaineering. Central to the collection is Rab’s first-ever high-altitude suit designed specifically for women.

Developed in partnership with Rab athletes Jon Gupta and Adriana Brownlee and tested in the cold chambers at the University of Nottingham, the collection combines cutting-edge material science, advanced insulation construction, and athlete-led design to enable both men and women to perform at their best in the world’s most demanding mountain environments.

The Altitude system serves as Rab’s most demanding R&D platform – where technologies are stress-tested under extreme conditions before cascading into products across the wider mountain collection.

Extreme environments as an R&D laboratory

The extensive development process brought together Rab’s insulation expertise with athlete feedback, laboratory testing and expedition validation. The resulting 8000 system – featuring the 8000 Suit, 8000 Hoody and 8000 Bib for men and women – combines 900FP European goose down, body-mapped PrimaLoft® Gold Cross Core®, Thermo Ionic Lining Technology (TILT) and Rab’s patented and award-winning L.O.F.T 3D™ construction.

The new 8000 system addresses one of high-altitude design’s greatest challenges: reducing bulk whilst maintaining warmth and protection – enabling a more consistent body temperature and requiring less energy to sustain it. Expedition-appropriate details include considered storage and ease-of-access features designed to work with a pack and personalised layering system, alongside wrist gaiters with watch port, drop seat, kissing zip guard, and multiple venting options.

The Women’s 8000 Suit represents a genuine step change in high-altitude equipment for women. Featuring a women-specific fit and insulation mapping, and features adapted to the specific needs of female high-altitude athletes, it delivers extreme warmth, protection, and performance without compromise.

L.O.F.T 3D™: Award-winning sleeping bag innovation moves into apparel

One of the most significant developments for AW27 is the migration of Rab’s patented L.O.F.T 3D™ technology – previously exclusive to its pinnacle sleeping bag range – into technical apparel for the first time. L.O.F.T 3D™ combines trapezoidal baffles with a unique twisted helix structure, creating natural funnel points that hold down in place without additional stitching. By minimising fill migration, the construction reduces cold spots whilst allowing exceptional loft with less down – improving thermal efficiency without adding weight or bulk.

For AW27, this technology forms part of the insulation architecture of the 8000m system and is carried into the Mythic family, demonstrating how innovation created for the highest mountains can be evolved into equipment for a broader range of technical objectives.

Innovation that moves down the mountain

Learnings from Rab’s high-altitude development have directly shaped the AW27 lightweight insulation range – proving that what works at 8,000 metres makes everything else better.

The new Mythic Ultra Hoody featuring 100% recycled Pertex® Quantum NetPlus® adapts L.O.F.T 3D™ into an alpine down jacket, delivering greater warmth than its award-winning predecessor whilst using the same quantity of 900FP goose down featuring Grangers Down Defend® – improving thermal efficiency without increasing fill weight.

The Mythic G Hoody takes a different approach. Featuring 100% recycled Pertex® Quantum NetPlus® and packed with 1000FP down and advanced construction, this jacket delivers exceptional warmth for minimal weight, making it ideal for fast, technical objectives in severe cold. Combined with TILT (Thermo Ionic Lining Technology), it brings expedition-derived thinking into a lightweight and highly packable insulation piece built for fast, weight-conscious mountain objectives.

Technology transfer extends beyond down. The new AW27 Generator insulation range uses PrimaLoft® Gold Cross Core® alongside Pertex® Quantum Pro with Diamond Fuse technology, carrying material innovations shared with the Altitude system into protective synthetic pieces built for exposed belays and severe climbing conditions. Trusted by climbers, mountaineers and winter professionals.

Tim Fish, Product Director at Rab, comments: “The Altitude collection represents the most demanding environment we can put our products through – and that’s exactly why it matters so much to us. When you develop for 8,000 metres, every gram, every baffle, every material choice is scrutinised at a level that simply doesn’t exist elsewhere. Those learnings don’t stay at the summit. They find their way into everything we make, making the whole range better. That’s the real value of the Altitude programme.”

The Rab Autumn/Winter 2027 range will be available from September 2027.

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