Luxury Fashion Houses Seek the Outdoors for Fall/Winter 2021
The hills are alive with the sound of my credit card being rejected.
At the onset of COVID-19, a New York Times article dug into psychological studies of scientific researchers isolated in icy tundras and mountainous landscapes. After returning home to "normal" social settings, the researchers found themselves yearning for their home-away-from-home, for their lives amongst snowbanks and evergreen trees. After extended periods in isolation, the researchers felt "socially awkward," struggling to ease back into human connection. They fled for the hills, which felt open, less claustrophobic—where they felt like they could breathe.
As much as we yearned for the return to normalcy, none of us were quite prepared for reintegration. We, too, wanted to flee to the hills; we needed breathing room after being contained for 18 long months. So when luxury fashion houses started showing their collections amongst vast mountain backdrops in rapid succession, it felt less like a trend and more like recognition.
Initially designed by Karl Lagerfeld and launched in 2018 with Margot Robbie, Chanel Coco Neige has become an expected winter-time staple. The annual collection blends together high-tech clothing and winter ready-to-wear, often referencing the apres-ski aesthetic with Norwegian-inspired sweaters and a retooling of Chanel's padded quilt pattern for jackets and bags.
After Neige's success, luxury houses began examining the overlooked ski market with Chloé and legacy ski-brand Fusalp combining forces in 2020 and Gucci x The North Face collaborating at the beginning of 2021. They were cult-hits, with the Gucci x The North Face pop-up seeing fashion aficionados line up around the block—despite the dangers of COVID-19.
It was an a-ha moment, and luxury houses realized that a bridge between athleisure and fashion could reach new audiences who had no need for tweed suits or silk gowns. What we needed was transitional streetwear to tech-wear for our mad-dash to the countryside.
Within the last eighteen months, brands have transitioned to in-house sportswear capsule collections—effectively cutting out the middle man, i.e. traditional athletic wear houses. DiorAlps, designed by Maria Grazia Chiuri, was launched in 2021; Prada relaunched technical skatewear; and Miu Miu Fall/Winter 2021, whose snow-filled runway show incited many a meme, released ski-meets-Sundance-Film-Festival-after-party attire.
In a blink of an eye, technical accessories began to pop up everywhere. Gucci, Miu Miu, MM6 Maison Margiela x Northface, and Off-white all released technical gloves for Fall/Winter 2021, while Supreme, Raf Simons, Marine Serre, and Rick Owens released balaclavas, ranging from knitwear options to more technical fabrics appropriate for days on the slopes.
Brands like Jacquemus released timely Fall gore-tech products, evidenced by their release of the La Montagne Collection and campaign starring Kendall Jenner. The collection utilized carabineers as functional closures, incorporated tech-level impermeable fabrics, even detachable pants that transition to shorts.
The show, which seemed unrelated to the montagne spirit at first glance, was, in fact, an abstract realization of a mountain range, dipping into the colors of nature's most desirable color palettes. Every major fashion house understood the assignment—that we all want to be outside.
So as the leaves change and with snow rapidly approaching, it may behoove you to step up your outer-athleisure game. Hit the road, hike the hills, and maybe, if you're lucky, sing a song at Cloud Nine while popping a bottle of champagne aimed at your closest friends—albeit this time in designer.
