Throughout his life, Åke had always learned his craft by working with people who were more skilled than himself. Knowing that in the ’70s the down insulation professionals were in the United States, he decided to plan a trip to be among his peers. At an outdoor fair in Chicago, Åke met a rock climber who at that time was one of America’s foremost manufacturers of down jackets and sleeping bags. This new friend invited Åke to the outdoor-centric city of Boulder, Colorado (the present home of Fjällräven North America) to teach him how best to develop his own insulating “never feel cold again” down jacket.
On returning to his hometown of Örnsköldsvik, Sweden, Åke finally had the tools and knowledge he needed to design a functional garment that prevented freezing while spending time in nature. Sitting at his Singer sewing machine, he crafted a jacket of a durable fabric comprising a smaller jacket inside a larger one.
Using the techniques, he’d learned in Boulder, Colorado, Åke filled the air ducts of his invention with goose down and feathers but packed the shoulders with a layer of durable polyester fiber. He fitted the jacket with an insulating hood that covered everything but the eyes when pulled tight, and he made the garment long enough to cover the backside.