What does a tool manufacturer know about clothing? Other than an occasional free red hat should we really be buying clothing from the same people we get our Sawzall blades from? Milwaukee sort of tiptoed into the clothing business about 7 years ago with the Heated Jackets and were able to overcome some obstacles in the power and heating elements other big names in the apparel world couldn’t figure out. Since then the actual jackets themselves have undergone several significant overhauls and the line has expanded greatly into a layering system adding the WorkSkin Mid-Weight Base Layer 401G ($49) last season. Building on that success Milwaukee is making their first leap into apparel for the warmer weather with WorkSkin Light Weight to address heat stress issues.
The new Light Weight WorkSkin will be available in short sleeve 410 ($29) and long sleeves 411 ($39) with 2 color options each, gray and High-Vis. Certainly not cheap options but these shirts are designed to outperform Nike, Adidas, NorthFace, Columbia and Under Armor in moisture wicking and evaporative cooling drying. The data is legit as Milwaukee has partnered with CoolCore Fabrics which is well recognized for their innovation in fabric technology, winning “2015 Best innovation – Sports and Outdoor Apparel” from the ITMA.
The CoolCore fabrics are used by other high-end sports (Brooks) and outdoor apparel manufacturers (Cabela’s GuideWear) but none that have specifically built clothing for trade professionals on the job. Milwaukee WorkSkin is designed to handle tough jobsite activities and to be used in conjunction with tool belts, full body harnesses and other safety gear to maximize comfort which has different needs than jogging around the park.
Will Milwaukee be successful with their new summer work apparel? After understanding the tech behind it and who else is utilizing it the pricing seems inline for high quality materials. We would guess they will find loyal fans who will jump on board. If past history with heat gear launches is any indication, our guess would be that they do a limited run of these and probably sell out early by June or July.
Pre-Sale for the Milwaukee WorkSkin Light Weight will start very soon with product on store shelves by early May. For any questions regarding Milwaukee Tool give the expert staff at Ohio Power Tool a call 800-242-4424 and they will be happy to help.
