TECHNICAL FEATURE
James Forrest How hiking gear became cool
As the resident gear reviewer for Trail magazine , James is no stranger to writing about hiking boots , down jackets , backpacking tents and the like . But with his piece How Hiking Gear Became Cool ( Trail , May 2023 ) he tells Outdoor Focus his goal was to ‘ tackle an intriguing topic , dispel some myths and do a deep-dive analysis on a little-known subject ’. Here is a short extract from his award-winning article .
It is a bizarre concept . Don your technical hiking clothing in the city and you might accidentally be the most stylish person around . Why ? It ’ s called ‘ gorpcore ’ – the fashion trend of city-dwellers wearing functional outdoor apparel for street cred . From retro Patagonia fleeces and colourblocked The North Face puffers to pricey Arc ’ teryx waterproofs and super-cushioned Hoka trainers , head to any trendy suburb and the influence of outdoor brands on city fashion is clear to see .
Coined by The Cut magazine in 2017 , ‘ gorpcore ’ is named after the American colloquial term for trail mix (‘ good ol ’ raisins and peanuts ’) – and the trend has exploded over the past few years . Vogue magazine proclaimed ‘ functional-wear has newfound kudos ’ in a recent article extolling gorpcore ’ s style virtues , alongside images of supermodel Bella Hadid wearing Salomon S / Lab XT-6 trainers and Grammy Award-winning rapper Frank Ocean in a Mammut down jacket . The Guardian predicted ‘ outdoors brands will dominate our wardrobes ’ for years to come and GQ labelled gorpcore as ‘ one of
Vogue magazine proclaimed ‘ functionalwear has newfound kudos ’ the most important trend topics ’ Or to sum it all up , in the words Highsnobiety , ‘ fashion ’ s marriage with the mountain aesthetic is showing no signs of cooling down ’.
What has driven the rise of gorpcore ? According to fashion critics , it ’ s the fusion of practicality and style – utilitarian gear that keeps you warm and dry on the commute , but also looks effortlessly cool in the pub . While high-end fashion is all a bit too try-hard , outdoor clothing has gained a kind of under-stated , nerdy coolness , with vibrant colours , baggy silhouettes and heritage vibes synonymous with the look .
For some outdoor brands it appears this has all happened by accident - a lucrative fluke ( Hoka recently hit $ 1 billion in annual revenue ), albeit one that threatens to derail their carefully-crafted outdoors reputation . For others it is a deliberate marketing strategy , with CEOs consciously courting the mainstream , a strategy Canada Goose chief executive Dani Reiss used in the 2000s to transform the flailing parka jacket brand into a global fashion behemoth . ‘ We ’ re
12 outdoor focus / winter 2023