Wrangler Bets on Debris-Repellent Fleece to Push Beyond Denim

Kontoor Brands launched a fleece outerwear collection on Monday built on Hay Away, a patent-pending fabric technology that repels hay, straw, mulch and grass from high-pile synthetic sherpa. The line retails from $39.99 to $99.99 and ships now through Wrangler.com and select US retailers.

The launch matters for sourcing teams on two counts. First, the repellency sits in the fabric construction itself, not in a surface coating, wash or finish — a distinction that changes how mills must engineer the textile and how the garment behaves over wash cycles. Second, it marks another step in Wrangler's stated strategy to expand beyond traditional denim, bridging workwear and outdoor categories from a single platform.

Fast Company named Hay Away the Category Winner in its 2026 Innovation by Design Awards, fashion and beauty category, adding third-party validation to the claim.

What does the construction change?

The technology pairs what Kontoor calls "bonded sherpa warmth with proactive debris-repellent functionality" inside the yarn and fabric structure. Because the function is intrinsic to the fabric, suppliers cannot retrofit it at the finishing stage. Brands wanting equivalent performance would need to source comparable engineered fleece at the mill level.

Dhruv Agarwal, vice president of sustainability, innovation and development at Kontoor Brands, framed the development around a specific use case. "Historically, wearing plush fleece around livestock or outdoors meant dealing with constant debris," he said. "We developed Hay Away specifically to eliminate that friction. By preventing debris from clinging to synthetic fibers, we have delivered high-performance warmth without the cleanup."

Agarwal said the collection reflects Wrangler's "commitment to practical, real-world material innovation."

How does the assortment map to segments?

The range covers three demographic groups with distinct styles:

• Men's: three styles — the Sherpa Zip Front Ripstop Yoke Jacket with reinforced ripstop yokes, full-zip closure, zippered chest pocket and hand pockets; the Sherpa Quarter-Zip Pullover in Aztec Port and Black Olive Southwestern prints; and the Sherpa Quarter Snap Pullover.
• Women's: the Sherpa Full Snap Jacket in blue, black and white cow-print.
• Kids and youth: boys' and girls' Sherpa Full-Zip Jackets, a boys' Quarter-Zip Pullover and little boys' mixed Sherpa Full-Zip Jackets.

The primary target is Wrangler's farm and ranch segment, where debris buildup on synthetic fleece has been a persistent functional problem. Wrangler also positions the line for families and for hikers and campers, which widens the addressable market beyond agricultural workwear channels.

What should sourcing desks take from it?

The patent-pending status signals that Kontoor intends to hold this construction close, so competitors chasing the workwear-outdoor crossover will need their own mill partnerships rather than a finishing-house workaround. Sourcing teams evaluating fleece programs should ask suppliers whether repellency is structural or applied, since that single distinction drives durability claims, care labeling and cost. Buyers weighing the outdoor-workwear bridge now have a live, sub-$100 benchmark to test against.