Winter approaches. GP’s product research adapts. In continued efforts to highlight brands you may not know of, but should, we give you Orage. Hailing from Montreal, Québec, Orage is an all-season mountain/snow sport outfitter that gravitates towards the snowboarding lifestyle. The distinctively modern/urban design carries through most of their lineup is snowboarder approved and this author finds himself a particularly big fan of the Lawson (pictured left).

New for the 2009/2010 winter season, the Orage Lawson is the perfect technical layering fleece. The 350 g/m2 weight fleece is tremendously warming without any of the bulk, it’s design purposefully focused on warmth. In combination with ski or snowboarding outerwear (of which Orage also happens to have plenty of choices), you’ll find yourself laughing off snow wakes and frigid weather. But that’s not all. Unlike a lot of technical layering out there, the Lawson also works on its own without the “right off the slope” look. We’re big fans of the alternating stitch pattern that gives the Lawson a certain degree of formality that manages to work with ski gear just as well as it does your favorite denim.

Cost: $160