Two failures live inside a waterproof jacket. Rain pushes in from the outside, and sweat collects on the inside. Those two jobs pull against each other.
NAN SKIN™ Fabric is built to handle both with the same layer. It is the shell fabric in NANEND’s ski jackets and snow suits, and the design starts at a scale you cannot see: fibers around 100 nanometers across, laid into a web that water cannot pass and vapor can. What follows covers what the fabric is, how the line makes it, the figures NANEND publishes for it, and the pieces it goes into.
I. What NAN SKIN™ Fabric Is
NAN SKIN™ Fabric is NANEND’s nano bio-inspired shell fabric. At the microscopic level the fiber measures about 100 nanometers across, one thousandth the thickness of a human hair.
A fiber that thin does two jobs at the same time. It keeps the fabric light, and it lets the fibers settle into an open three dimensional porous network.
That network is the whole idea. Water arrives as a droplet and stops at the surface. Moisture leaving your skin arrives as vapor and moves out through the gaps. A shell built on this web can sit close to a base layer for a full day without turning into a plastic bag, which is the part you notice on a lift in February.
The 100 nanometer figure describes fiber diameter, not the thickness of a coating. Every strand in the web carries that scale, and the web keeps its shape as the fabric folds, packs and goes through the machine.
II. How the Fabric Is Made
Two stages decide how it behaves. The first is how the fiber is spun. The second is what the web looks like once the fibers land.
Modified Melt Electrospinning
NANEND spins the fabric on a modified melt electrospinning line it developed in house. The fiber comes out of a melt, so there is no solvent bath to run, nothing to scrub out of the exhaust, and none of the fiber clumping, slow throughput or solvent handling that the older dissolved polymer route brings at this scale. Ethanol used for cleaning comes back at 97%, and drying heat gets reused in stages, which takes 38% off energy consumption.
Field strength and feed rate are the two dials. Move them together and the fiber lands between 50 and 100 nanometers, spread evenly, with porosity above 85%.
The band matters more than it looks. Porosity above 85% is what lets a waterproof layer breathe, and the web only holds that porosity if the fibers stay inside the range and distribute across it evenly.
Scale is the other half of the problem. A jacket takes several meters of shell fabric and a suit takes more. Electrospinning that works on a bench a few centimeters wide cannot dress a production run, and a web that drifts from one end of a roll to the other turns into panels that bead water on one side and wet out on the other. Running from a melt is what let NANEND build the fabric into whole collections.
Molecular Bridges at the Fiber Surface
Thin fibers break easily. NANEND reinforces them with nanoscale metal oxides, zinc oxide among them, plus a coupling agent that ties the particles to the fiber matrix. The internal name is molecular bridge, and it describes the job: the oxide sits on the surface, the coupling agent holds it there, and load spreads across the surface.
Tensile strength lands 32% above conventional nanofabrics. On a jacket that shows up where fabric rubs, at the cuffs, across the shoulders, along the strip under a pack strap. Fiber breakage and pilling are what dull a shell at those points first.
The Biomimetic Structure
Human skin regulates heat, blocks water, and stays smooth against whatever it touches. NANEND copied three of those behaviours into the web.
The wrinkle structure comes first. A wrinkle pattern built at micro and nano scale mimics the way skin folds and unfolds, and it moves temperature 5.4°C down in heat and 3.0°C up in cold.
Those two figures matter on a ski day. A climb generates heat, a chairlift takes it away, and one shell has to cover both without a wardrobe change. 5.4°C of cooling one way and 3.0°C of warming the other covers most of that swing.
The barrier comes second. Liquid water cannot cross the network. Vapor can.
Condensation is the usual failure mode. A shell that blocks rain with a solid layer also traps what your body puts out, and that moisture collects on the inside face until the base layer is wet. Here the path for vapor stays open, so water leaving your skin keeps moving and does not settle as a film.
Skin affinity is the third. Medical grade raw materials and a liquid forming process leave the surface free of burrs, so it does not scratch. Nanofibers also carry a high surface area to volume ratio, which lets the fabric sit closer and feel smoother against skin that reacts to coarse weaves and stiff seams.
III. The Published Numbers
These are the figures NANEND publishes for NAN SKIN™ Fabric.
- Waterproofness: above 10,000 mm H₂O of water pressure
- Breathability: above 15,000 g/m²·24h moisture vapor transmission
- Antibacterial: above 99.8% inhibition rate
- Durability: 3.2% loss or less after 200 washes
- Environmental profile: no solvent emissions, recyclable raw materials
- Comfort: smooth surface, close fit, temperature regulation
Read the first two together. 10,000 mm H₂O is measured as a column of water, and it covers wet snow, rain driven sideways, and the pressure of sitting down on a damp chairlift. 15,000 g/m²·24h is the vapor side of the same trade, and it decides whether a hard climb ends with a dry back.
Two figures sit outside that list. UV protection is rated UPF ≥50+, and the fabric blocks more than 98% of UV rays. Weight comes in at one third of a conventional TPU membrane, which you feel when a shell goes into a pack.
Stain repellency comes from the same structure. The fiber surface is hydrophobic and oleophobic, so mud and spray sit on top, and a wet cloth lifts most of it. Fewer washes means less time in a machine, which is easier on any shell.
IV. Where the Fabric Ends Up
The fabric runs across the NANEND range. No single jacket owns it, and the pieces fall into three groups.
Jackets, Ski Suits, and Shell Layers
Outerwear is the main use. NAN SKIN™ Fabric is the shell in NANEND’s ski jackets, the Skyline ski suit, hiking pants, and cycling jerseys. Temperature regulation absorbs the difference between a cold ride up and a warm climb. Breathability keeps sweat from pooling on the way. Water pressure resistance holds through wet snow and driving rain.
Filtration is the extra most people do not expect from a shell. Tested to international standards, the web catches 99.97% of PM0.3 particles, which covers the grit and dust that comes off a ridge in wind.
Everyday Wear
The same properties carry into casual jackets, base layer quick dry shirts, and sun protective clothing. A burr free surface with no allergenic potential suits skin that reacts easily. Stain repellency and antibacterial performance cut the number of washes a garment needs. Temperature regulation covers spring, autumn, and winter, so one jacket earns more of the year.
Weight matters more here than on the hill. A jacket that folds into a bag and comes out without a crease gets worn on a commute. One that feels heavy stays in the closet.
Gloves, Masks, and Hats
Gloves, face masks, and outdoor hats use the fabric as a barrier first. The porous structure blocks bacteria, dust, and UV while air still moves through, so a mask worn all day does not end up damp.
A glove spends the day against a hand that is working. Antibacterial performance limits growth inside the piece, which matters once gear is packed away wet or handed between people on a trip.
V. What the Process Means for the Person Wearing It
Twelve technical problems used to sit between nanofiber fabric and a production line. The NANEND R&D team has worked through all of them, and two of those solutions decide how the fabric behaves on your back: controllable preparation of ultrafine nanofibers, and precise regulation of porous structures.
The next round of work tunes the process to the scenario. Water resistance, breathability and antibacterial performance can be set separately on the same platform, so a glove liner and a ski jacket can be built to different targets. Cost sits inside that same effort. A fabric that only ever appears on flagship jackets stays a demo.
The biomimetic structure sits underneath all of it, borrowed from the way skin moves heat and moisture. It is what keeps the inner surface smooth against a base layer through a full day. So the same fabric ends up in a ski jacket and in a daily shell, and neither one asks you to change when you leave the mountain.
For guidance on pairing NAN SKIN™ fabric with the right outer layer, see our ski jacket buying guide.
