Burton produces soft and hard goods for snowboarding activities. In the case of its soft goods, it has a wide range of snowboarding apparel which incorporates various technical features to ensure their suitability for cold and wet conditions.

The company’s headquarters remain in Vermont, USA. In addition, Burton has two wholly owned subsidiary companies in Europe and Japan—Burton Sportartikel and Burton Japan respectively—as well as six companies which operate under the umbrella of Burton Snowboards: RED (Rider Engineered Devices), Gravis Footwear, Anon Optics, Analog Clothing, The Program, and Channel Islands Surfboards.

The company also runs several projects in the snowboarding community. These include: the Burton Global Open Series, a series of snowboarding competitions owned and organised by Burton; the Chill programme for disadvantaged inner city children; the Learn To Ride (LTR) programme, which instructs beginner snowboarders; and the Abominable Snow Jam, which is a summer competition. Burton Snowboards looks to have a promising future. It has expanded from a small company, and has successfully driven the growth of the international snowboarding market. Nonetheless, it faces a significant challenge in the form of global warming, and the impact of global warming on the snow season and the industry as a whole. In response, Burton is looking at other markets and launching new product lines in order to diversify into sectors which are not dependent on the weather.

Why performance apparel?

Performance apparel represents one of the fastest growing sectors of the international textile and clothing industry. Market growth is being fuelled by the emergence of new fibres, new fabrics and innovative process technologies. The market is also being boosted by changes in consumer lifestyles. People are living longer and spending more time on leisure activities. New high-tech fabrics are being developed for a wide range of active sports such as aerobics, athletics, running, cycling, hiking, mountaineering, swimming, sailing, windsurfing, ballooning, parachuting, snowboarding, and ski-ing.

Exciting innovations are emerging in fire retardant materials and those which protect against extreme temperatures. Added to that is the growing market for corporatewear – which, in some cases, is becoming increasingly fashion-oriented, and increasingly, high-tech fabrics and apparel designed for high performance wear are crossing over the boundary into everyday fashion.