Streetwear, Gorpcore and Outdoor Luxury (2024)

Streetwear brands have built largefollowingsand now influencefashionindustry trends.Last monthwediscussedtrendsemergingfrominternational textile trade events in Europe. This week we unpack the potential for streetwear brands to learn from outdooradventure-wearbrands.‘Gorpcore’is a streetwear trend influenced by outdoor brands such as Patagonia and North Face.This trend is elevating adventure-wear to luxury status and can be seen on international fashion runways.Part of the appeal is the high quality materials and practical design of adventure-wear. Is this something streetwear brands are learning from?

What is streetwear?

Streetwear is a subculture of fashion that is rooted in Californian surf and skate culture.It has evolved toencompassmore than that –includinghip hop fashion,Japanesefashion andelements of haute couture. Common components of streetwear are jeans, t-shirts and sneakers, with an overall casualurbanaesthetic. As streetwear fashion has evolved, so toohasthe brands that supply it, and the subculture previously influenced by high fashion is nowinfluencing back. Streetwearis now a fully fledged part of the fashion industry and big internationalfashion houses likeBalenciaga,GivenchyandChanelall have elements of streetwearembedded in their collections – makingthe notoriously confusingdefinition of streetwear even harder to decipher.

Supreme, where streetwear meets luxury

Supreme is astreetwearbrand of notefor their owncollectionsand for their collaborations withluxury designers.What started as a New York City skate shop in the ’90s is now a recognised global fashion brand.“My thing has always been that the clothing we make is kind of like music,”JamesJebbia, founder of Supremesays.“There are always critics that don’t understand that young people can be into Bob Dylan but also into the Wu-Tang Clan and Coltrane and Social Distortion. Young people—and skaters—are very, very open-minded . . . tomusic, to art, to many things, and that allowed us to make things with an open mind.”Initially beginning with t-shirts, then adding hoodies and hats, Supremeistuned in to the mix and matching of fashion culture, and startedriffingoff what designers likeLouis VuittonandGucciwere creating. The collaboration that marked the elevation towards luxury designer status was withJapanese label Comme des Garconsin 2012, which opened a lot of doors for Supreme.

This year,Louis Vuitton and Supreme collaborated on an exclusive collectionemblazonedwith both brands logos and aesthetics. The collaborationsimultaneously gives Supreme luxury designer status while making Louis Vuitton accessible to a whole new demographic of consumers. The collectionhas an underlying ’90’s influence,includingelements of‘gorpcore’withparkas, camo and belt bags.

The relationship between Supreme and Louis Vuitton started in 2000, with Supremeproducingskate decks and other products featuring a copiedLouisVuittonsignature logo print.In the late ’80s and ’90businessesbased on counterfeiting designer productswere popular.Dapper Dan,wasa major influencer of hip hop fashionwhostill resonates todayas an influencer on streetwear fashion.Dapper Dan’s work came to a haltwithcourt sanctionsfrom major luxury designers,howeverthis counterfeiting eraspurred a shift in the waybrandsbeganrebelling and reactingin thefashionindustry.

It was shortly after this thatMarc Jacobs was appointed creative director at Louis Vuitton. Jacobs refreshed the classic Louis Vuitton monogramandinjectedayouthfulappealby gifting items toyoungmodels such as Naomi Campbell and Kate Moss. This youthful attraction toluxury housesand playful appropriation in hip hop fashion, in turn lead toSupremerebutting with a repurposed version of Jacobs print. The brandincluded‘S’ for Supreme amongst the ‘LV’ pattern. The Supreme products were pulled after 2 weeks, due to a cease and desist from Louis Vuitton. 17 years later, the two brands cametogether to create their Louis Vuitton x Supremecollab, illustrating a true evolution of streetwear fashion moving into the luxury realm.

Streetwear and athleisure have becomeintertwined

Athleisure hasimprintedon both streetwear and luxury as consumers put comfortbeforefashion.Millennialsplace significance on time, travel and activitiesover luxuryproducts,leadingto ashift in the types of clothing peopleare wearing. Casual attire like the streetwear mentioned above, goes one step further with gym to day outfits, sneakers with workwear and technicalmaterialsfor breathability and performance. Lifestyle has contributed to this asbusy,modernpeopleexpectmore from their clothes.All Birds for example; founded by NZ footballer Tim Brown and business partnerJoeyZwillinger,is acomfortable NZ wool, Italian knitted athletic shoe.This shoehas gainedmajorpopularity in Silicon Valleyas atechprofessionals everyday shoe.

Gorpcore, the new normcore?

‘Gorpcoreis the new‘normcore’,rising out of comfort and practicality for everyday wear.‘Normcore’was apopulartrendofunremarkable“normal” clothing with a purposeful lack of design flare.‘Gorpcore’ is an evolution of ‘normcore’,witha nod topractical dad fashionand usefuloutdoor wear. GORP in American slang language stands for “good oldraisinsand peanuts” and refers to trail mix eaten by trampers and outdoor adventurers. This is whereGorpcorefashion comes in, withbeltbags, puffer jackets, durable and practical raincoats, trainersand sockswithsandals.

Well established outdoors brandsarecatering to‘gorpcore’fashiontrends alongside moderndesigners.Teva’svelcro sandalswerepopular in the ’90sanare now available from designer streetwear boutiques.Patagonia’siconic mountain range logois now in every millennial’s wardrobeandthey arealsofavouredfortheirsustainable and environmentalethos.North Face puffer jacketsin a rainbow ofcolourscanbeseen onwintery streetsworldwide.Not only have these brands been elevated to high fashion statusandmixed into designer wardrobes, luxuryfashion labels are taking inspiration. There wereparkas, beltbags,velcroshoeson the AW Fashion catwalks this year.

A stand out high fashion collectionwith ‘gorpcore’ styleisBalenciaga’s Fall 2017 Menswear collection designed byDemnaGvasalia.Gvasalia’sown brandVetementslooks to the street for inspiration, so it is a natural progression that Balenciaga would become a more refined, upmarket version of this. In the Balenciaga collection, standout piecesmimickingadventure wearon the runwayincludedpuffer jackets and vests emblazoned with the Balenciaga logo, hoodies ironically toting theKering grouplogo, shinyrain jacketfabrics fortrenchsandparkas and gumboot style boots.

What can a fashion brand learn from outdoor adventure-wear?

Outdoor adventure-wear is designed for practicality first and foremost.Innovative techniques and technical materials enable this practicality, which can be translated into fashionable design.Naturalfibressuch as wool are often used for the outdoors due to strength and warmth of thefibreand resulting garments.High quality and innovativefibresare developedin conjunction withinterestingtextiletechniques.Nike created a newsports bra using Flyknitthis year.Aknittingtechniqueinitially designed fortheirfoot wear,Nikecreatesseamless knitwear with complete support and recoveryusing theirFlyknittechnology. This advancement removed 30 seams from thebradesign, enabling superiorcomfort.A combination ofinnovativedesignand technicalmaterials leads to fashionable, practical garments that consumers want to weareveryday.

PerinobyWoolyarnsis an innovative yarn collection suited to both athleisure and luxury clothing.Withsoftnessproperties comparable to cashmere and building on the warmth of wool, Perino can be used in linings, as the main outerwear or in mid layers creating insulation. Engineered in New Zealand, a country known for outdoor adventure, it is no surprise that the adaptabletextile cancater to multiple demographics.Not only is itsuperior insoftness, weightlessness andhasan interesting,halo-liketexture, it has natural breathability, drawing moisture away from the skin. Always refining and developing, the Perino teamfromparent companyWoolyarnshas limitless possibility for bespoke blends to fit any designer need.

Choosing versatile, high performing materials and techniques is a way for deisgners to learn from the adventure-wear industry.

High quality, technical materials for streetwear brands

High quality, interesting andtechnical materials will give streetwear brands an edge on the ‘gorpcore’fashion trend. Luxurious fabrics, interesting developments in techniques and an application of high fashion design is the fusion of elements thatwillbenefit the streetwear market.Millennialswant more from their clothing than ever before, thereforelong-lasting high quality garments paired with good design is an advantage for brands.

Further Reading:

With luxury designers adapting themes of skateboarding into their collections and shows, of course it will have some blow back from hard core skaters with atrue connection to skate culture.Esquire interviews skate magazine editor Jake Phelps of Thrasher andBrendon Babenzien founder of skate brand Noah.

Want to get on board?NY Mag has curated a list of 11 ‘gorpcore’ piecesto buy this season.

GQ has coined the term “Second-hand Dad” describing Gorpcore, likening the look to“dressing like your dad, going for a walk in the woods, some time in the early 1990s”. This article by The Gaurdian discusses the rise in sales for authentic adventurewear brands following the trend and designr collaborations with brands such as Nike and Supreme.