It’s another month until the Winter Olympics. But news on the athletes and the gear associated with the Games is coming out fast, including a major announcement today from Columbia Sportswear.

In what amounts to one of the biggest projects Columbia has ever pursued, the company unveiled its custom-built uniforms for the U.S., Russian and Canadian Teams.

The company’s Omni-Heat Thermal Reflective technology is used as a base in many of the pieces. But the Olympics gave Columbia designers an excuse to pour months of time into building ski suits with new technologies.

“These are works of art. We’ve never done anything as technologically advanced before,” said Jeff Mergy, Director of Innovation for Columbia.

Never-before-seen touches include: A new kind of waterproof zipper bonded to laser-cut fabric; removable pockets for changing the look of a jacket on the fly; and special patterns and colors, called “snow camouflage,” on the uniforms made to mask body movement in mogul skiing (ostensibly for better results from the judges).

Source: gearjunkie.com