If Tenet and Inception are anything to go by, then we’re still going to be wearing suits in the future – they might just need to be able to cope with time travel and dream hijacking, as well as the office and going out to dinner. So our Planet Earth Suit 2 is an ultramodern, completely weatherproof take on what we used to call a suit.

While our Planet Earth Suit 2 is built from ultrafine Merino, you’d never know it. Merino has its roots in classic suits, but we’ve completely transformed how the wool feels and what it looks like. This is Merino transformed into a smooth, minimalist, high tech material.

To build the Planet Earth Suit 2 we’ve retained and enhanced all the high performance properties of Merino – it’s still water resistant, highly windproof and breathable, while killing bacteria and regulating your temperature – but we’ve made it completely smooth and soft against your skin. And we’ve cut it into a design that will take you from a plane to a boardroom, to a lunch, to a mountain.

The Planet Earth Suit 2 is built with Merino wool engineered using Optim™ spinning technology. The fibres are pre-stretched, spun into yarn and woven into fabric, before a wet-finishing process is applied that makes the fibres contract and the weave structure tighten. The result is a super-dense and tightly woven fabric that’s 5x more wind resistant than normal, and can last half an hour in the rain before it even gets damp.

The quality of Merino is judged on its ‘micron count.’ This refers to the diameter of an individual fibre measured in microns, or thousandths of a millimetre. The smaller the diameter, the finer the fibre. The finer the fibre, the softer the fabric. The micron count of Merino wool can be as low as 15 – which is the same as cashmere. The spinning process takes the micron count of our Merino even lower, which is why it feels so smooth and silk-like. 

The fly fastens securely with a zipper, an invisible metal snap and a second inner button. And with a width of 60mm, the 6 belt loops are designed to be compatible with almost any belt. Inside, the pants are half-lined at the front with a lightweight technical cotton blend to reduce friction and increase comfort. Every seam is either bound or blind stitched for durability and clean construction, inside and out. And a 4 centimetre hem with blind stitching means they can be easily adjusted by a tailor without breaking the line of the leg.

Both the pants and jacket are super easy to fold and pack down into a bag for travel. At the other end of the journey you can simply pull them out the bag, shake them out and throw the suit on, making it perfect for the times when you need to travel light. The pants are incredibly smooth and soft against your skin, so won’t scratch you or itch like wool can. And Merino is also naturally elastic so it’s not going to create any resistance.

The outside of every Merino fibre is covered in a natural wax coating which makes it water repellent when you’re outside. At the same time the Merino acts like a sponge to soak up sweat and spread it over a massive surface area so that it evaporates at high speed. And as Merino can absorb over 30% of its own weight in water and still feel dry, you’ll stay warm and insulated.

Merino sheep are bred to survive scorching summers and freezing winters, so the fibres of their wool respond and adapt to the conditions you find yourself in – either trapping or releasing heat depending on the temperature and humidity of your skin. Merino wool has to keep sheep cool even when the temperature goes over 30°C, so the Merino fibre naturally absorbs the moisture from sweat and disperses it to start releasing heat.