Tidligere i denne måned blev det meddelt, at I (tidligere Kanye West) havde lavet en ny aftale på hans berømte Yeezy mærke. Nur Abbas, der havde været designdirektør på Nike’s alle betingelser Gear (ACG) etiket, er indstillet til at deltage i Yeezy som leder af design, en rolle, der vil få ham tilsyneladende hele Yeezy-imperiet, fra specielle projekter som Stam Player, til beklædning , Yeezy Gap og Adidas Yeezy Fodtøj. Den fransk-amerikanske designer havde haft tidligere stillinger på Margiela, Gucci, Louis Vuitton og Uniqlo, før du flyttede til Nike og Nike ACG. Men det var ikke det faktum, at I havde pocheret Abbas fra Adidas ‘Sportswear Rival, der dannede den mest interessante del af udnævnelsen – Designers flytning hele tiden. Hvad der var potentielt meget mere interessant, var at I havde ønsket et udendørs fokuseret mærke til at forme den næste del af Yeezys rejse, og vi ved alle, at så snart I begynder at vedtage noget, har det en tendens til at holde fast.
Streetwears besættelse med udendørs tøj har boblet væk i et stykke tid nu, og det giver mening, at de to har sammenflettet. Tænker tilbage til Streetwears tidlige dage, designs drejede sig om at være komfortable, let at slidte i lange perioder, og let at flytte i, ligesom sport og udendørswear har altid været også. Bårne fra byens indflydelse og låner tungt fra skate kultur, kan du sige, at streetwear og udendørs slid altid har været forbundet, især når man ser på mærker som Stüssy, som drejede sig om udendørs aktiviteter som surfing. Tilsvarende har mærker som nordfladen altid været en fast foretrukket blandt streetwear crowd – men meget mere på det senere.
Selvfølgelig eksisterer udendørs tøj på en lidt anden skala. Betingelserne på en California Beach er meget forskellige for dem, du ville finde vandretur op et bjerg eller kører et spor. For det har du brug for stærkt funktionelle og tekniske tøj, og det er disse, der ser ud til at være kulturens nye fiksering. Dubbed “Gorpcore” af mode entusiaster (stående for gode gamle rosiner og jordnødder, en populær trail snack) Relocationen mod højtydende tøj har været ret svært at se bort fra – faktisk google søgninger efter trendet forbedret af en fantastisk 211% over det sidste år. Væsentlige stilarter omfatter tekniske regnjakker, vandreture sko og stort set alt med en overdreven mængde lommer, stilarter, der er bygget til at udholde selv de hårdeste væder og miljøer – alle betingelser, hvis du søgte efter opkaldet tilbage.
Billede gennem arc’teryx
Arc’teryx effekten.
Nu har GORP langt lykkedes vandreturen, drevet hovedsagelig af canadiske outwear mærke arc’teryx. Kendt for deres premium udendørs og klatring slid, havde Arc’teryx-mærket erhvervet trækkraft inden for modescenen, fordi det illusive Frank Ocean blev fundet sportslige en branded beanie på Paris Fashion Week i 2019. Måneder senere, i 2020, Ye Alums School Alum Virgil Abloh sendte Hadid søstre ned i bane i off-white kjoler, der blev fusioneret med Arc’teryx jakker. Outerwear-mærket afskedigede det antagne samarbejde som uofficiel. Ikke desto mindre angav Fashion Insights Company Stymelight inden for 48 timer efter showet, at Arc’teryx-klik havde forbedret sig med 61,54% på deres platform.
På trods af mærkerne indlysende utilfredshed med Ablohs tage og vokal fordømmelse af streetwear scenen var det ikke længe før Arc’teryx til sidst gav et samarbejde med Palace Skateboards senere det år. Hailing fra London, Palace’s Inner-City Skate Vibe er langt fra vandreture og bakker, men det har ikke stoppet dem fra at hoppe på trenden. Ikke alene samarbejdede de med Arc’teryx, men de kom også sammen med Technical Footwear Brand Salomon og Cycling Brand Rapha. Overvist var det samarbejde, der var meget mere godt modtaget af streetwear-crowd end Arc’teryx’s fælles skare af udendørs entusiaster, og det er en følelse, der fortsat rammer dem. En hurtig rulle gennem ARC Subreddit fordømmer mærkets new-found-tilgang og hævder, at mærket er faldet i at gøre “douche uniformer til hypebeaster” og beskylde dem for at “gøre overprisede ting og markedsføring til fad chasers.”
Men virkelig var ‘fad’ kun bare at komme i gang. Hvis Arc’teryx var glad for en vellykket 2020, var 2021 ved at blive meget større for dem. Som et high-end mærke havde ARC formået at låse en præmie, ski-klar samarbejde med Jil Sander, men i den anden ende af spektret havde mærket fanget Gennemsens opmærksomhed. Sandsynligvis drevet af paladset Collab og Traktion fra mode meme sider, Arc’teryx’s vandtætte jakker tog Tiktok med storm. Standing under their showerheads, TikTok teens wore Arc’s GORE-TEX treated jackets whilst water rained down all over them, with the videos accompanied by audio of rapper YT’s track “Arc’teryx”, and captions stating that the ‘just beads best off.’ No shit, right? They’re built forat. Although TikTok’s erratic use of hashtags can skew figures, video views for videos that include the Arc’teryx hashtag currently sit at over 2.256 million views, with 5.4k videos uploaded.
If the palace collaboration had upset Arc’teryx’s core fanbase, the TikTok teens pushed many of them over the edge. The brand had been purchased out by new owners in 2019, and it was clear that a change in direction had taken place. One angry Reddit user accused Arc’teryx as being “the next The North Face,” and said that they “hoped it was worth it.”
Image through Gucci
When The North face met Gucci
It’s hard to talk about outerwear without mentioning The North Face. The brand that was dreamed up by hikers and named after the most unforgiving side of a mountain is now a staple within the streetwear scene. Its signature “Nuptse” jacket gets its name from the mountain that neighbours Everest, and has been reworked numerous times by streetwear brands and affiliated artists, including supreme and KAWS to name a few. Whether inner-city streetwear fans need a 700-fil goose down jacket is debatable, but nevertheless, it stuck.
During the early part of 2022, The North face dropped a capsule collaboration with Italian fashion house, Gucci. The famed Nupste formed a part of the collab, along with accessories like useful backpacks, and a tent. Whilst you’d assume that the collection was developed for the rich and elite Aprés Ski crew, it certainly caught the attention of streetwear fans even much more so. It begged the question: who is benefitting much more from these collaborations? Is it the outdoor brand capitalising on the highly engaged streetwear audience, or the streetwear brand now able to offer much more technical better-quality product whilst riding a trend at the same time?
To Gucci’s Alessandro Michele, the collection was ‘simply a way to share his love for the terrific outdoors.’ “We are a big brand, so we have to take responsibility for our industry,” Michele told Vogue, claiming that the house had moved towards the ideation of giving fashion a longer life. His previous capsule collection, Gucci ‘Off the Grid’ had been compromised of recycled, organic and sustainably sourced materials – arguably much more outdoorsy than creating a camping collection for the super-rich.
Image through NikeLab
So, What’s Next?
But why are so numerous brands wanting to the terrific outdoors for inspiration? It’s easy really, isn’t it – this is the first year in a long time that many of us have been able to go outside again without limits, connecting with nature, and in turn, our roots. It’s a movement that has seen designers all over draw inspiration from, and the narrative that nature is healing goes well beyond fashion. Arc’teryx and Gucci x TNF price points aside, the trickle-down effect has seen brands like ACG make looking amazing outdoors become much more available to all. Abbas’ relocation from Nike to ACG in 2022 could be significant, timing-wise given the amount of time we were locked down for, and it could even be a similar story for frequent new balance collaborator, Salehe Bembury, who left his position of Vice president of sneakers at Versace the same year. Abbas’ new role was entirely based on creating products that were outdoor-ready, whilst Bembury’s designs were clearly inspired by nature and trails; his new balance 574 “Yurt” prioritised function, whilst his collaboration with Crocs, the “Pollex Clog” was inspired by nature and suitable for trail wear.
This brings us back to Ye. having famously ditched LA’s hidden Hills in favour of two ranches in Wyoming, the mogul had dreams of bringing his entire Yeezy production line to Cody. Whilst he sold off one of the properties, he retains ownership of the other, seemingly living between there, Miami, and well, opposite Kim in Calabasas. much more to the point though, is that the purchase of the ranch seemed to spark something new in Ye, encouraging Yeezy to take a slightly different method to how they thought about their products. though earth tones and mineral references have always played a part in Ye’s designs, things stepped up when it was revealed that the controversial Yeezy Foam RNNR actually used algae from Ye’s ranch in the original “Sand” colourway. Algae was also used in some of the iterations that followed, although not from the Cody ranch. numerous Yeezy styles now incorporate much more sustainable materials, a step forward in looking after the world outside.
Ye continues to spend many of his time in Miami, and he does so in Balenciaga. It’s no secret that he has the high-fashion market in a chokehold, but his name change and uniform have likened his public personality to performance art. Abbas’ outstanding CV has shown he clearly has talent outside of ACG and outdoorwear too, with experience in both streetwear and luxury fashion, so could his appointment suggest an overall much more stable, grounding era is on the way for Ye? One thing is feller sikkert, du følger ikke typisk tendenser, han sætter dem, og hvis du er ved at se til udendørs for meget flere tegn, vil de fortsætte med at gøre det på en måde, der er i modsætning til alt, hvad vi har set før. Hvis ikke, uanset hvad det betyder for yeezy, er det stadig et frisk pust for mærket.
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