SmartWool is a company founded by New England ski instructors Peter and Patty Duke in Steamboat Springs

Steamboat Springs, Colorado

The city of Steamboat Springs is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Routt County, Colorado, United States. The city is also known as "Steamboat," "The Boat," or "Ski Town USA". As of the 2010 census, the city population was 12,088.The city is an...

, Colorado in 1994 and acquired by the Timberland Company

The Timberland Company

The Timberland Company is an American manufacturer and retailer of outdoors wear with a focus on footwear. Its three key locations are in Stratham, New Hampshire; Danville, Kentucky; and Ontario, California....

 in 2005. The company makes eponymous products primarily from treated merino

Merino

The Merino is an economically influential breed of sheep prized for its wool. Merinos are regarded as having some of the finest and softest wool of any sheep...

 wool

Wool

Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and certain other animals, including cashmere from goats, mohair from goats, qiviut from muskoxen, vicuña, alpaca, camel from animals in the camel family, and angora from rabbits....

. SmartWool claims that this proprietary

Ownership

Ownership is the state or fact of exclusive rights and control over property, which may be an object, land/real estate or intellectual property. Ownership involves multiple rights, collectively referred to as title, which may be separated and held by different parties. The concept of ownership has...

 treatment makes its products itch-free and resistant to shrinking. SmartWool is also claimed to have moisture-wicking performance and odor-reducing, anti-microbial properties; it is thus marketed primarily as performance apparel. Reviews for SmartWool products are typically found in the context of equipment for hiking and other outdoor activities.

In 2005, SmartWool implemented the requirement that its New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 wool suppliers no longer practice mulesing

Mulesing

Mulesing is a skilled surgical task that involves the removal of strips of wool-bearing skin from around the breech of a sheep to prevent flystrike in regions where it is common....

. In 2010, SmartWool signed a contract to exclusively source its Merino wool from the New Zealand Merino Company.