Having become a must this winter, the fleece is displayed everywhere in magazines and on social networks. Some luxury brands, like Gucci, are surfing on the trend and offering their own collection. A divisive trend
Did you say old-fashioned, the fleece of your childhood? Long confined to the hiking department, this winter jacket is making a comeback and is enjoying unprecedented success in the fashion world.
How to explain the return of this piece often considered unattractive? For several seasons, the fashion codes of the 90s have imposed themselves in magazines and among young people. Particularly the trend of sportswear, but also that of “outerwear” (outdoor clothing), characterized by the adoption by urbanites of pieces usually confined to sports activities.
On social networks, the trend is even infatuated with a name of its own, “gorpcore”, the prefix “gorp” being none other than the acronym for “good old raisins and peanuts” (the good old grapes nuts and peanuts), the energizing snack for hikers.
Practical and comfortable
Archives is a Geneva brand that draws its inspiration from modern aesthetics and innovative creative techniques. It draws its influence from industrial and sporting culture, from dress codes inherited from the urban world and from the design present in work clothes.
Its creator Victor Prieux likes to use materials such as fleece in his pieces. “It’s true that fleece is an essential part of the sportswear wardrobe. Like shoulder bags, it’s practical and pleasant to wear. The material also effectively insulates against the cold. And finally today what we want is to be good in his clothes regardless of the style”, he explains.
He adds: “Fashion by definition is cyclical: the cheesy things of yesterday are the trends of tomorrow. There has always been a tenuous link between ‘this taste for ugliness’ and design and there is a playful side to the making it his own”.
>> Read also: The Crocs, the return of the “ugly shoe”
Luxury accessory
A trend that luxury brands have also adopted. Labels such as Isabel Marant, Celine or Stella McCartney offer a range of sportswear pieces in their collections. The Italian house Gucci even recently signed a collaboration with the outerwear brand The Northface.
For Anne Jézéquel, director of the master’s in luxury marketing at CREA, gorpcore is part of a deeper trend. “This fashion reflects certain ideals of our society: to favor comfort, to put nature back into one’s daily life, to advocate the values of surpassing oneself, of adventure. For example, consumers who buy Patagonia fleeces favor a more responsible capitalism. It is also a marketing argument and luxury is surfing on this trend”, she analyzes.
Not green
Paradoxical, when you know that materials like fleece are mostly made of PET (polyethylene terephthalate) and synthetic materials. Some sites, like The Good Goods, points out the hypocrisy of this trend and of certain luxury houses. “Using nature as a backdrop for campaigns with the aim of selling new products raises a real environmental issue. Fashion and luxury brands can no longer content themselves with drawing on the codes of the outdoors and borrowing references to the hiker if they do not put anything concrete in place to preserve nature”, he underlines.
Like luxury houses, eco-responsible brands like Patagonia are campaigning for sustainable fashion. initiative “Worn Wear” allows the customer to bring back their used clothing to have it repaired or obtain a voucher in exchange. It also makes it possible to buy the brand’s products second-hand and thus extends the durability and environmental impact of the garment.
TV Subject: Fanny Moille
Adaptation web : Sarah Jelassi