Outdoor in the fashion world: A rollercoaster ride

The outdoors and fashion have been converging for years. This is evident in trends like Gorpcore and fashionable functional pieces. However, what consumers now combine as a matter of course often puts brands and retailers in a strategic bind.

Segment boundaries remain quite rigid in retail

Gorpcore is only the latest example of a long series of mergers in recent years. Sometimes the focus has been on placing fashion brands in outdoor retail; sometimes on how outdoor brands could make fashion retail more attractive. After all, consumers are leading the way. They combine both segments without a second thought, such as an outdoor jacket with jeans or trail running shoes with a skirt. Just because a product was developed for mountaineering does not mean it will be used for that purpose.

However, what is easily possible in consumers’ wardrobes is by no means the case in the real world of retail. The boundaries between the two segments are more impermeable than one might think, and for good reason. In the long term, this indecision about which side to belong to can cause serious problems. A look at the last 20 years proves this.

Fashion hijacks outdoor brands – not always for their benefit

An early example of this is Helly Hansen. The Scandinavian outdoor and sailing brand was "hijacked" by the hip-hop scene in the 1990s, without Helly Hansen intending it. Suddenly, HH puffer jackets were everywhere on the streets and in schoolyards, and it no longer mattered where the brand actually came from or what it originally stood for. The unexpected sales boom was followed by a rude awakening, as Helly Hansen’s actual target group found this appropriation rather off-putting. The fashion trend, of course, moved on after a few seasons. The brand was tarnished.

Adidas struggled with the same phenomenon when the hip-hop band Run-DMC sang a hymn to the three stripes. It eventually launched Adidas Originals and other sub-brands to strictly separate fashion and performance in its collections, distribution and marketing. To this day, Adidas is doing well with this approach, managing the remarkable balancing act between top-level sport, mass-market goods and the fashion world.

Adidas Terrex, the brand’s outdoor division, however, still has a difficult time. When Terrex was launched in 2011, Adidas was able to buy in the best mountain athletes for marketing, but that was not enough to establish the necessary credibility. The outdoor scene remained sceptical. Adidas was associated with precisely what it did not identify with: mass market and fashion. To this day, Terrex seems to be still in its discovery phase. Sometimes the focus is on sustainability, sometimes urbanity, sometimes high-end functionality. One can only speculate whether this is why the Terrex shops in Germany did not work.

However, it can be stated that the classic outdoor target group does not feel ennobled when fashion people or stars suddenly hold their outdoor brands up to the cameras. On the street, it is no longer recognisable who really loves outdoor sports and who is just adorning themselves with it.

Outdoor brands actively distance themselves from the fashion image

The list of outdoor brands that have suddenly been hyped by fashion in recent years or have suddenly developed hybrid, fashionable collections can easily be extended. The North Face and Salomon are now also trying their hand at separate performance and fashion collections, sometimes with separate shops. Mammut also ventured into fashion with gold down jackets, white mountain boots and pink climbing ropes – and was punished for it. Current CEO Heiko Schäfer (who interestingly comes from Boss) advertised last year with the slogan "We are not a Streetwear Brand" and likes to emphasise that such escapades will no longer happen at Mammut.

Over 15 years ago, the Canadian premium outdoor brand Arc’teryx had already founded a fashion offshoot with the sub-brand Veilance, with high-priced, minimalist high-tech pieces for everyday life. Interestingly, the fashion crowd did not pounce on the fashion offshoot Veilance when Arc’teryx climbed the fashion Olympus two or three years ago – for example, through a collaboration with Jil Sander – but on the classic outdoor line or even the military division. Here, too, the sudden fashion boom is likely to have harmed the brand’s credibility and pleased the core target group little. As a result, Arc’teryx is now distancing itself again from the short but intense fashion liaison.

"The bigger our footprint becomes, the more we make sure that we communicate and define our core positioning more strongly," said Sven Radtke, general manager EMEA of Arc’teryx, at the opening of the new store in Munich in an interview with FashionUnited. "Of course, all customers are welcome to buy our products, but we would never position ourselves in fashion for the sake of Gorpcore or any other trend." Larger fashion collaborations are "no longer an issue and are by no means planned for the coming seasons" is the strategy today.

The Arc’teryx example also shows that fashion is interested in outdoor collections precisely because they have a certain image and stand for something. Why else would the fashion world not be content with Veilance? Why does it have to be the hardcore outdoor line? Because outdoor is the original, because it is primarily functional and therefore distinguishable from other looks. Because it thrives on technical innovation, not visual innovation. Outdoor brands are proud that some of their products remain unchanged in the collection for decades.

Think of Fjällräven, which has had its Greenland collection or the Kanken backpack in its range almost unchanged for over 50 years. Or Lowa, whose Renegade hiking boot will soon celebrate its 30th anniversary. This consistency, in contrast to fashion, is what makes outdoor special, and it is the same reason why tennis, football or ballet looks can be picked up by fashion as visible elements and remain recognisable as such.

Who benefits from the outdoor hype?

Let's take a look at what the Gorpcore hype has actually achieved – and for whom. It certainly brought reach and new target groups to the outdoor market – especially after the pandemic, when an urban fashion audience suddenly became interested in functional clothing and the benefits of classic outdoor activities such as hiking and camping. However, this new target group and the question of how long they will remain relevant is causing the outdoor industry some headaches. This is because their primary intention was not to hijack the outdoor image for fashionable purposes, but they really wanted functional clothing that fitted their clothing habits, was fashionable and did not feel like a disguise.

Who did the hype bring more sales to? The brands in the short term, certainly. Arc’teryx and Salomon have recorded good sales growth in recent years. For classic outdoor retail, however, the fashion hype is likely to have been quite uninteresting, especially for small retailers who do not have the space to present the theme separately. "Fashion customers don't suddenly go to an outdoor shop to buy an outdoor brand just because outdoor is now trendy," said a retail expert from the outdoor industry years ago, thus opposing the usual storytelling of some trade fairs or specialist publications. After all, even large retailers such as Sport Schuster in Munich have taken up the theme and dedicated areas near the entrance to the fashionable Gorpcore collections to attract new customers.

Above all, however, it is likely to have been the fashion retailers who were able to implement the theme profitably. Shops such as Newseum in Nuremberg, Prm in Prague or Ka-Yo in Copenhagen have developed new, hybrid concepts for fashion customers who are looking for precisely this vibe between outdoor tradition and fashion innovation. This has also created new platforms for young, new brands that specialise in this hybrid world between sport and fashion.

Conclusion: The real convergence of the segments will take generations

The question remains, how long will this hype last and where will it develop? It is not to be expected that the importance of physical culture and experiencing nature will diminish in the coming years. There is therefore much to suggest that sport and outdoor will continue to be an important source of inspiration for fashion, especially the authentic styles that are recognisable and trigger emotions. The extent of this influence, however, will fluctuate. Probably only the comfort that comes with functional materials is permanently integrable, and modern consumers will hardly want to say goodbye to it. However, as long as real outdoor athletes and fashion people want to distinguish themselves from each other, they will neither shop in the same shops – not even online – nor will brands develop a real interest in focusing more strongly and permanently on the other target group.

However, the hybrid target group, which is younger, interested in sport and cannot be assigned solely to the classic outdoor target group or to pure fashion customers, will remain. It is the nucleus for the gradual further development of outdoor and sports collections and for the real rapprochement between fashion and outdoor, even if these themes should not be as strongly visible in mainstream fashion for a few seasons. For the near future, the trend barometer is turning to "conventional fashion".

This article was translated to English using an AI tool.

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