Below, Peter Dumigan, managing director of the Hultafors Group UK, which owns Snickers Workwear, Solid Gear safety footwear as well as Hellberg Safety PPE, discusses the needs for comfort, wellbeing and efficiency which not only shaped the first trousers but have driven the latest developments in modern work trousers almost 2500 years later.
It is said that the origins of trousers as a functional, practical, garment can be traced back to the warrior equestrian societies of Eastern Europe and Asia Minor as far back as the sixth century BC. Trouser-type garments took many forms over the next 2000 years and it was only into the early 19th Century that ankle-length trousers – until then worn mostly by the lower working classes became more widely accepted as the garment of choice throughout society.
The evolutionary process of trouser design and development was one in which garments were tailored to the practical needs of their wearers. Probably the most significant clothing development in the 19th Century was Levi Strauss’s invention of the canvas work trouser for miners in 1853. It was the first of its kind, but it was not until 1873 that further innovation was seen with Strauss’ introduction of blue denim trousers, later incorporating metal rivets for greater garment durability and longevity.
The workplace had to wait over 100 years, until 1975 in fact, for the next stage in trouser evolution. It was the invention by Matti Viio – a Swedish Electrician – of the holster trousers with kneepads that heralded the Snickers Workwear brand and the era of purpose-designed working clothes for modern-day professional tradesmen and women. Since 1975, Snickers Workwear has been inventing and reinventing work trousers with kneepads each with a combination of design technology, hi-tech fabric innovations for comfort and functionality and more recently a sharp focus on sustainability.
After nearly 50 years of continual innovation, Snickers Workwear now has a range of over 90 styles of trousers with 8 different types of kneepad in the patented KneeGuard Systems for individual worker needs in a wide variety of working environments. From professional trades in building and construction, to engineering and maintenance, logistics and warehousing, heavy and light industries as well as hazardous workplaces, Snickers Workwear has a pair of trousers to suit and kneepads for protection – for all shapes and sizes.
The brand has now launched the world’s first built-in, certified kneepads which are completely integrated into a pair of Snickers Workwear’s stretch work trousers – the AllroundWork Stretch Trousers with Capsulized kneepads and holster pockets. The result of an intensive research and development process that has spanned the last three years, the trousers deliver low-profile, comfortable impact protection – certified to exacting International Standards. These trousers are a combination of cutting-edge sportswear technology and well-established workwear know-how to suit craftsmen and women who are constantly on the move and want the comfort, flexibility and durability of welded-into-place, certified knee protection.
Capsulized Kneepads
Designed and engineered in partnership with YBC, the Capsulized kneepad components comfortably deliver effective penetration protection and impact absorption for the wearer.
A CORDURA stretch covering provides external fabric durability. It integrates with the first performance layer of high-density foam which delivers maximum protection. This combines further with a shield of Ortholite comfort foam technology that’s highly shock absorbent.
Comfort and protection is further enhanced by a foam comfort layer for pressure release when working while kneeling. Finally, there’s an inner polyester fabric which seals the outer protection layers onto the trouser leg and provides a comfortable surface between the wearer’s knee and the kneepad itself.
It’s effectively a Capsulized layer cake with a number of protection layers that work with each other to dissipate the energy created by the impact of working on your knees or if you accidentally bump them in and around the workplace.
Nicole Rimér, Head of Innovation at Snickers Workwear explains, “We have set out to solve a common frustration for workers who are constantly moving around; standing up and kneeling down. Now thanks to our ground-breaking Capsulized kneepads, they can get all the comfort and freedom of movement they want and still have the practical knee protection they need.”
www.snickersworkwear.co.uk
