From the Peak to the Streets: How Outdoor Wear has Become a Streetwear Staple

Outdoorsy gear has become the new streetwear go-to.

When it comes to our kicks, we all yearn for product innovation and performance. And the same can undoubtedly be said for outdoor gear. When you’re stuck outside in the pouring rain or freezing cold, you need your trusted parka to do its job.

Innovation and performance are core tenets of outdoor gear, so maybe that’s why technical outerwear has become ever more popular amongst sneakerheads and the streetwear community at large. These days, you’re just as likely to see The North Face and a pair of Salomons on the streets of New York City as you are on the trails of the Rockies.

And while the outdoorsy trend seems to have reached a fever pitch recently, it actually stems back quite a few years – a few decades, even.

We know what you may be thinking: Nike ACG, right?

While Nike had been producing hiking gear since the early 1980s, it wasn’t until 1989’s slick All Conditions Gear (ACG) rebrand that the Swoosh’s off-the-beaten-path designs took on a decidedly cooler air (pun intended). Despite what we may think now of the Air Revaderchi and other ACG classics – and the line’s apparel and accessories of the era – ACG was hardly adopted by the masses in the late-80s and early-90s.

IMAGE CREDIT: @thenorthface.purplelabel

Instead, you have to fast-forward to the early 2000s launch of The North Face Purple Label to pinpoint when exactly outerwear began to catch the attention of the streetwear conoscenti. A long-time veteran of Helly Hansen and The North Face’s Japanese outpost, nanamica designer Eiichiro Homma was one of the first to recognise the potential of modern retro-inspired outerwear, and subsequently launched Purple Label under TNF’s Japanese and Korean rights-holder, Goldwin, in 2003. Eiichiro’s expertly conceived combinations of classic designs with tweaked constructions (think Nuptse jackets in tweed) quickly caught on and, before you knew it, Purple Label became a cult classic.

IMAGE CREDIT: SUPREME

A few years later, Supreme got in on the action and teamed up with TNF for the very first time, bringing its streetwear know-how and unmistakable logo to the Summit Series. As you might expect, the colab sold out in a heartbeat, acting as the springboard for every seasonal Supreme x TNF colab to come.

This led to hypebeasts and OGs alike, scooping up outerwear left, right and centre. And things haven’t slowed down since. Long-time favourites like Arc’teryx, Canada Goose, Moncler, Patagonia, and Stone Island (especially the Shadow Project offshoot led by ACRONYM mastermind Errolson Hugh) have surged and never looked back, while brands like Columbia and Eastpak have even enjoyed their time in the limelight. The list goes on and on, and has driven much of the higher fashion world in recent times. If it weren’t for the likes of Purple Label, those old TNF colabs, and outerwear’s adoption in a more urban setting, who knows what current offerings from Balenciaga, Boris Bidjan Saberi, CdG, Heron Preston, Hiroki Nakamura, Hiroshi Fujiwara, Off-White, Raf Simons, sacai, and Vetements would look like.

IMAGE CREDIT: THE ICONIC

Thankfully, all that love for outerwear and trail-inspired designs has led to the continued success of two of our all-time favourites: Snow Peak and White Mountaineering.

A nod to famed Mount Tanigawa, Snow Peak launched as a mountaineering company way back in 1958, before shifting their focus to camping in the 1980s. Following the ethos ‘we are also users’, Snow Peak have been churning out unparalleled Japanese camping gear ever since, even venturing into apparel in 2014 to bring their technical know-how to wearable outdoorsy staples.

IMAGE CREDIT: White Mountaineering, THE ICONIC

White Mountaineering, on the other hand, don’t trace their roots back nearly as far, but have been focusing on apparel from the get-go. Launched in 2006 by Yosuke Aizawa, the brand is driven by the idea that ‘the field in which we wear clothes is all outdoors’ and, like Snow Peak’s apparel, takes the Japanese inspiration behind the likes of nanamica and Purple Label to new heights.

Combine the two, and you have the makings of the most stylish, well-equipped campout around – whether you’re deep in the woods or queuing up overnight for the latest high-profile drop.

You can pick up Snow Peak and White Mountaineering’s latest offerings from SneakerHub right now.

discover more on sneakerhub