Polartec didn’t stop innovating at fleece, either. In the mid-90s ... fleece for Patagonia’s iconic Snap-T pullover. Around the same time, Chouinard was walking around a sporting goods ...

A fleece jacket or pullover has been the essential hiking ... The first big jump came with the introduction of “tech fleeces” like Polartec Powergrid in the 1990s that transformed the fleece ...