Step Aside Quiet Luxury, It's Time For Quiet Outdoor
In recent years, there's been a growing trend for our love for the outdoors, leading to a surge in outdoor sportswear and technical gear in our closets. Gorpcore, named after the hiker's snack "gorp" (Good Ol' Raisins and Peanuts), has been a major trend for years. However, according to McKinsey's report, we're seeing a shift towards a more subdued winter style called wwithing the industry as "quiet outdoor".
With Gorpcore's seemingly ubiquitous rise, we've embraced technical fabrics, performance jackets, and trail sneakers, almost regardless of the weather, and incorporated them into our daily outfits. Collaborations like The North Face x Gucci and Arc'teryx x Jil Sander gained attention, or Salomon x MM6, to name a few.
As a result, more and more outdoor brands have been leaning towards fashion but trading Gorpcore's distinctiveness for a more stylish look and creating an industry landscape that today is much more nuanced and complex than just using Gorp elements. Looking ahead, we will see a fusion of style and functionality, drawing more and more lifestyle brands into the technical realm (I see you, Brunello Cucinelli).
In the early days of 2024, we are already looking at a new hybrid trend: functional yet flirting with luxury akin to quiet luxury, but this time is aimed at those who want to conquer the elements in style.
Quiet luxury is less about wealth and more so about exuding confidence — picking elevated essentials where logos and loudness are almost non-existent. In contrast, clean lines, dark and neutral tones, and relaxed and airy tailoring take center stage. Quiet outdoor is the winter functional style of quiet luxury; it leans toward elevated minimalism as well, and it's all very much IFKYK, just like quiet luxury.
Today's challenge for outdoor brands, at least the ones wanting to take on this new trend, will be to stay true to their roots while adapting to this evolution. If tech-wear is the merging of function and fashion, then quiet outdoors is the favorite child of timeless luxury outdoor fashion.
And before I forget, of course, for brands to be on this list, they have to be luxury, so nothing quiet about the price points.
To help you better understand what to look for, we compiled our favorite quiet outdoor brands and where to shop them.
Shop our favorite Quiet Outdoor brands of 2024.
_J.l-A.L_
The first entry for quiet outdoors is _J.l-A.L _. Initiated as a lockdown endeavor by designer Jean-Luc A. Lavelle, who had just finished a beginner's sewing course before the COVID-19 pandemic brought the world to a halt, J.L.-A.L might be the most nascent brand featured here. Yet, in its early stages, it has already begun carving a significant reputation.
Last year, they caused a stir with their joint efforts with two renowned names in the outdoor footwear industry, HOKA and ROA. The brand quickly gained notoriety, not just for making headlines but also for achieving remarkably quick sell-out times.
With a background in design predating his foray into apparel creation, Lavelle self-taught the use of the computer-aided design tool CLO for crafting his technical garments. The brand's advanced design techniques result in futuristic attire, showcasing taped seams, reflective elements, and highly functional materials.
Post Archive Faction
As a standout brand in South Korea's rapidly evolving fashion landscape, Post Archive Faction distinguishes itself from typical outdoor labels with its strong leanings towards high fashion. This unique positioning led to its nomination for the prestigious 2021 LVMH prize. Yet, despite its affinity for crafting abstract shapes and experimental designs, the brand maintains its status as a producer of highly functional apparel.
Post Archive Faction offers an extensive range from innovative transformable pants, which feature pockets that double as bags, to lightweight balaclavas designed with internal ear loops. However, the crown jewel of its collection remains the puffer jackets. These jackets are made from specialized performance materials and feature unique design elements such as asymmetric zippers and holes showcasing contrasting puffy fabric, making its outerwear a highly sought-after item.
Snow Peak
Since 1958, Japan’s Snow Peak has produced some of the world’s finest camping gear – from backcountry stoves to stainless steel kettles and everything in between. Just a few years ago, under the guidance of the founder’s granddaughter Lisa Yamai, the brand brought its expertise in outdoor design to a new arena: technical garments.
These highly functional materials are incorporated into a variety of designs that demonstrate the brand's seamless capability to bridge the gap between lifestyle fashion and elite performance.
Snow Peak makes upscale tech wear filtered through the lens of a campsite. Cuts are relaxed. Waterproof membranes are rare. Compared to other tech mainstays, Snow Peak might even appear casual. Under the surface, however, is a world of cunning design that makes the brand’s pastoral aesthetic borderline impressive and, of course -subtly quiet.
While Snow Peak may be designed for life by the campfire, it is still bonafide luxury tech. Outerwear starts around $400 per piece, with seasonal standouts hitting the right four digits.
Norda
If you're already familiar with the On's and HOKAs of the world, you'll also love a pair of Norda. Norda's high-fashion trail running shoes are a great addition to sneaker rotations that'll withstand muddy trails while also freshening up our wardrobe. Norda's bouncy high-performance shoes, packed with future-forward textiles, are not only for professional athletes and ultra-marathoners but are loved by sneakerheads, too.
ACRONYM
The release of ACRONYM's debut KIT-001 in 2002, featuring a jacket, bag, soundtrack, concept art, and more, was arguably the inception of what we call “techwear.”
Taking inspiration from military surplus, technical sportswear, and the idea of cyberpunk, ACRONYM, high up there among the world's best outdoor clothing brands, was launched as a vision statement. With functional garments as a canvas, ACRONYM paints a broad scope of references — zip sleeves, magazine pouches, the world of Akira — onto beautiful finished products sold at luxury price points.
Labels, including Guerrilla Group, Stone Island Shadow Project, and Enfin Levé, hold this ethos tight. Countless others have benefited from it. Whether they realize it, someone tagging their black all-Nike ’fit as techwear is a disciple of ACRONYM. By merging the worlds of streetwear and technical apparel, ACRONYM created a whole new one.
It’s also worth mentioning that ACRONYM co-founder Errolson High has been involved with a number of other techwear brands (e.g., Tilak’s Poutnik) and that ACRONYM has collaborated with a “who’s who” of sportswear and street culture, Futura and Nike included.
Nanamica
Named 'house of the seven seas,' Nanamica is a Japanese brand Japanese outdoors brand that takes its particular blend of fashion and function very seriously, and that has been part of the fashion landscape for more than ten years, merging classic tailoring with a sporty twist.
Nanamica manages to create clothes that look simultaneously peaceful, refined, and durable and thanks to, mostly, a lot of GORE-TEX lining, Kodenshi down, and Alphadry shells, it makes for the perfect humble quiet outdoor brand.
Templa
Founded by two snowboarders and now employing a former director of Haider Ackermann, Templa is one of the most fashion-forward tech brands today, with leather puffers, three-layer coaches, and a Raf Simons collab. What the brand lacks in heritage, it makes up in style. Somewhere between Rick Owens industrialism, Martine Rose's exaggeration and BLACKYAK overbuilding lies Australia’s own luxe tech star-child.
The Templa collection is split into two halves: “Urban,” which shapes street-friendly tech silhouettes through the brand’s artistic lens, and “Alpine.” While a jacket like the 3L Tombra might never leave the trailhead, its three-layer membrane fabric, and PrimaLoft Gold insulation would be right at home on a Norrøna parka.
Whether January means walking at fashion week or skiing on Hokkaido, Templa’s luxe tech wear has you covered.
Riot Division
With one of the most badass names on the list, the brainchild of Ukraine creative Oleh Moroz, Riot Division is a quiet outdoor brand in the truest sense. Each Riot Division piece is like a William Gibson novel brought to life: vests transform into rain jackets; bombers come with modular pockets.
Riot’s dialed-in aesthetic has already given the brand some clout within the techwear community, but its mid-level price point is as impressive as the clothing is.
Goldwin
Much is made of the Japanese word “kaizen.” This concept of “continuous improvement” finds perhaps its most authentic expression in sock factory-turned-techwear pioneer Goldwin.
The brand's roots can be traced to 1950 when a tiny rural knitwear shop opened to help locals restart their lives after the destruction of World War II. Goldwin gained a reputation for high-quality knits, and that technical expertise took the brand into ski sweaters and athletic jerseys, in 1978, Goldwin became the exclusive distributor of The North Face in Japan.
Today, Goldwin is a powerhouse, making everything from jackets made of spider silk to The North Face Purple Label. The company’s two Goldwin-branded lines — a high-end techwear collection and a complete suite of Alpine gear — are some of the best in their fields. Best of all, as shown by their most recent SS24 collection, the techy outerwear where every detail is meaningful is another reason Goldwin is on this list.
Haven
The Canadian retailer's outdoor collections follow the mentality of eschewing extraneous detailing in favor of uncompromising functionality.
Every season, HAVEN creates garments that are too sharp to allow for fleeting trends or clunky flex pieces and offers utilitarian daily drivers abetted by the world's finest technical textiles. This is uniform stuff, streamlined and perfected—the epitome of quiet outdoors.
As usual, it's all made in Canada and frequently informed by subtle high-spec applications.
Houdini
Houdini is an eco-conscious tech brand making extreme sports apparel with a focus on sustainability. The company is famous for its innovative use of fabrics. Textiles like the brand’s Surpass 2.5L hardshell perform like any other hardcore material, albeit with one key difference: they’re built around sustainability the whole way through.
Many of Houdini’s garments are recyclable. Additionally, the brand lets users rent its highest-performance gear, so a ski jacket used once doesn’t get thrown out in a future Marie Kondo-ing.
While you don't see much of its stuff being shot in front of a Shanghai skyscraper (yet), Houdini is making waves with its planet-friendly mission and performance cred alike. Take Patagonia, swap surfboards for dogsleds, and you’ve got a Swedish sustainable tech powerhouse.
Konundrum
With the rise of techwear comes the rise in techwear brands. What that means is that you really have to be able to distinguish between marketing jargon and the real deal. When we saw what the young German label KONUNDRUM was doing, it was instantly obvious that this was a name to pay attention to.
Founded in 2020, the label has made a name for itself by taking no shortcuts. Every aspect down to the zipper has been perfected on each of its jackets. But what really sets KONUNDRUM apart from the crowd is its modular approach to outerwear. The brand’s jackets have multiple components, allowing the wearer complete autonomy regarding changing conditions.
Organic cotton is woven into the highest possible density to ensure that it’s waterproof and windproof but still breathable—nickel-free buttons and polyurethane-coated zippers round out the flawless designs, which come in all-black only.
KONUNDRUM represents a new guard of outerwear labels that are technically and visually pushing the possibilities. We’re excited to see what’s next for this burgeoning powerhouse.
Ten C
Launched in 2010 by Alessandro Pungetti, a former employee of C.P. Company, Ten c is a perfect example of quiet outdoor as it champions a "less is more" philosophy, emphasizing durability and timeless design in its garments. The brand debuted with a modest collection of seven items crafted from Original Japanese Jersey (OJJ), a fabric known for its initial stiffness that softens and molds to the wearer's body over time, much like denim.
Today, Ten c's offerings have expanded to include a wide array of items, from Bermuda shorts and tees to down jackets, yet the brand's foundational principles persist. Ten c focuses on sleek, high-quality outerwear designed to be cherished and worn across multiple seasons.
Disregarding fleeting trends, the brand steers clear of conspicuous branding, prioritizing the lasting quality of its materials, craftsmanship, and aesthetic appeal. According to Creative Director Alessandro Pungetti, Ten c aims to produce garments that are not only enduring but also evolve with the wearer, embodying both timelessness and iconic style.
The majority of Ten's pieces, including their SS24 collection, are fashioned from either OJJ, the hallmark fabric of its initial line, or Nylon Tactel, favored for down jackets. These materials are celebrated for their adaptability and potential for rich coloration, with OJJ, in particular, known for its capacity to develop a unique patina over time.
For more brand suggestions, check out Canadian clothing brands and German clothing brands, or the best luxury brands,or head over to our top clothing brands in the world hub.
