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Back to nature: How the pandemic made the outdoors fashionable
Outdoor clothing is booming again as a "pandemic escape", offering a spiritual and emotional means of getting back in touch with nature and human contact, a concept Bandung's Humblezing embraces.
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Humblezing, an outdoor clothing brand based in Bandung, West Java, "recruited" friends and customers to model its latest collection, Outdoor Cult, during an event at the Pagerwangi Dome Dago campground in nearby Lembang. (Humblezing documentation/Courtesy of Humblezing)
A
n unlikely fashion trend has been seeping into the public consciousness over the past year. Outdoor gear, designed with function first in mind, has become almost equally at home in daily life as it is in the mountains: Puffer jackets, fleece sweaters, windbreakers and hiking shoes have become increasingly common attire among denizens of supermarkets and cafes, and on the catwalk.
Once considered utilitarian garb for those who eschewed fashion, the style has found an unlikely audience in the stylish set. The Cut, New York Magazine’s fashion and lifestyle website, dubbed the rising trend “gorpcore” in 2017, derived from “good ol’ raisins and peanuts”, the vernacular for trail mix among outdoorsy types.
Three years later, 2020 proved a momentous year for gorpcore. Clothes can take you places, albeit not strictly in the physical sense. With pandemic restrictions and lockdowns in place, nature has become a luxury we’ve been cut off from for far too long and perhaps subconsciously, it has become aspirational.
Azka Muharam, a 25-year-old copywriter and appreciator of the style, started wearing outdoor wear in his latter years at university. At first, he was drawn to the functionality and durability of the clothing, which later developed into appreciation of their designs.
“After [wearing outdoor clothing] for some time, I thought to myself, why would I wear these clothes if I’m only staying in the city? I then went hiking for the first time, when I experienced more of the benefits and functions of my clothes,” he said. Now, Azka looks for waterproofing and breathability in clothing products, with The North Face and Arc’teryx being two of his favorite brands.
As people around the globe have been generally confined at home for the good part of 2020, yearning for the outside world has become universal. With dense urban spaces now unsuitable for gatherings of any size, the great outdoors is the better alternative.
Retreating to the camping grounds
