Of the 16 premium brand products, only four manufactured by two companies were indeed made of goose down. (image: Kobizmedia/Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, Nov. 20 (Korea Bizwire) – Expensive luxury goose down jackets came to be discovered that they were actually filled with duck down, not pricier goose down.
When Consumer Research, a CN Media company, surveyed a total of 25 down jackets, among which 16 items were from eight imported premium brands and nine products were made by nine outdoor companies. Of the 16 premium brand products, only four manufactured by two companies were indeed made of goose down.
The rest of the brands including Canada Goose, Parajumpers, CMFR, Nobis, Aigner and Moose Knuckles use duck down to make their supposed “goose down” products. Only Moncler and Herno items were filled with goose down. Their goose down jumpers cost 2 million won to 3 million won, or about US$1,800 to US$2,700.
In general, goose down jackets are pricier than those made with duck down as they provide the highest quality warmth while weighing light.
Of the products using duck down, only CMFR and Nobis items were filled with 100 percent of duck down. The rest use duck down and feathers together. Down is generally known to be better at insulation than feathers.
In terms of outdoor brands, eight out of nine, including The North Face, Black Yak, Lafuma, K2, Nepa, Millet, Kolon Sport and Columbia, use goose down. Only Discovery makes use of duck down. Most of the outdoor products were filled with 90 percent of down. They cost 430,000 won to 790,000 won, much less expensive compared with premium brands.
And yet, premium brand down jackets sell like mad in Korea even though they are expensive with low quality per price. Just as a lot of Korean teenagers have stretched out their hands to grab The North Face down jumpers for a few years, many adults aged between 20s and 40s have craved for premium down jackets manufactured by Moncler and Canada Goose, which makes them always out of stock.
By Veronica Huh (veronicah@koreabizwire.com)
