A preform material for manufacturing a protective garment having a top material, in particular a firefighter's protective garment. The material is made of an insulating lining made up of an at least two-ply water-jet-consolidated nonwoven fabric having a weight per unit area of 80 g/m2 or lighter for each individual ply, a lining material having a weight per unit area of 120 g/m2 or lighter, that is quilted to the at least two-ply nonwoven fabric; and a semipermeable membrane, constituting a moisture barrier. After the at least two-ply water-jet-consolidated nonwoven fabric has been quilted to the lining material, the semipermeable membrane is laminated onto the outer side, facing away from the lining material, of the nonwoven fabric ply and has a weight per unit area of 20 to 30 g/m2.