Dictionary

Anorak is a hip-length, hooded pullover, sweater or jacket without a front opening, which protects the wearer against wind, rain, and cold weather. Usually, anoraks have quarter zips but in a modern fashion you can occasionally find full-length zippers too.

The word anorak comes from the Greenlandic ‘annoraaq’, which is translated as ‘wind’. Cold winds are exactly what the first anoraks were designed to protect against. Inuits made these using animal skin, often from seals and caribou, which had to be cured, stretched, and treated with oils in order to turn it into a water- and wind-proof layer. Nowadays, producers usually use Gore-Tex and ripstop nylon for it.