Paramo Clothing
Paramo is a leading British manufacturer of outdoor clothing. Using the unique, directional Nikwax fabrics, Paramo clothing offers superior moisture management for a variety of outdoor activities, including hiking, climbing, biking, running and trekking. Please browse our wide range of Paramo clothing, we are a specialist Independent Paramo Retailer, The Mountaineer has been established since 1983. Years of experience to guide you through all your needs. Please contact us if you need any help or advice selecting Paramo clothing.
About Páramo
Páramo is a small British outdoor clothing company, based in East Sussex, started by Nick Brown in the early 1990s to turn his ideas about superior outdoor kit into a real product and business.
Through launching Nikwax in the 1970s, Nick had developed innovative fabric and footwear aftercare. Nick has always been a big enthusiast for the natural world so didn’t want to include anything in his company’s products that might result in a negative environmental effect. The Nikwax aftercare products were the first to be water-based and not use aerosols – high performance and low impact.
In the mid 80’s Nick began experimenting with a new fabric technology, inspired by mammal fur, to make high performance, long-lasting, maintainable outdoor clothing without the need for laminates, membranes and taped seams, giving superior outdoor performance and comfort without built-in obsolescence. The new fabrics were tested in the Páramo region of the Andes in South America, a vegetation zone above the treeline which is pretty relentlessly cold and wet – a perfect testing ground!
When Páramo become a reality, Nick was looking for manufacturing capacity and was put into contact with a nun running a very small sewing workshop in Bogotá, providing practical training for vulnerable Colombian women. He linked up with the workshop and the rest is history! That small workshop which was an offshoot of a charity, the Miquelina Foundation, has become a high quality garment factory employing 200 women, training 400 women a year, looking after their children and providing housing and practical support.
The most important aspects of Páramo clothing
The no compromise outdoor gear from Páramo offers high performing waterproofs without users having to sacrifice environmental and ethical principles. So high performance and quality are crucial. Their garments are the choice of Mountain Rescue teams, the British Antarctic Survey and countless mountain guides, outdoor instructors and nature professionals. Paramo regularly win awards and accolades from gear testers and magazine readers.
The fabric technology is the starting point, with Nikwax fabric treatments applied to achieve great and renewable waterproof performance. The key is that the fabric is designed not to be a barrier but to move moisture, working in a way sympathetic to biology to keep the wearer drier and more comfortable in all conditions, however hard they are working and however much sweat they are generating.
The waterproof fabrics used in Paramo clothing don’t need glue bonding or environmentally/ biologically persistent chemistry such as poly- and per-fluorinated compounds (hazardous and polluting PFCs). Paramo clothing fabrics are thus recyclable, repairable and aren’t compromised by being punctured – you could stick pins all over a Páramo waterproof, take them out, and it will still keep the rain out! Páramo have a repairs workshop on site in East Sussex too, as accidents can happen when you’re out on the hill.
The Páramo clothing designs using these fabrics are incredibly innovative, functional and timeless – constructed with the real outdoor enthusiast and professional in mind, so you can get on with enjoying the outdoors without worrying about your gear.
