Introducing: CMF Outdoor Garment
Celebrating their Japanese heritage and their ties to Western design with their tech-led aesthetic and their passion for performative styling, CMF Outdoor Garment arrives at Always in Colour to offer an artisanal take on a number of street and outdoor apparel essentials. Focusing on utilitarian design and high-end fashionable functionality at their core, CMF’s recent revival by Harajuku-based label LOSTHILLS is one that captures the time honoured brand’s all season, all setting appeal.
Siphoning influence from their Shibuya ties, Japan’s post-WW2 utilitarian trends and from the notable ‘Karasu Zoku’ fashion movement of the ‘80s as pioneered by the likes of designers such as Rei Kawakubo and Yohji Yamamoto, CMF Outdoor Garment continues to combine elements of traditional military design with their innate admiration for classic Japanese craftwork and generation-to-generation practice. Reinterpreting cut-and-sew silhouettes to better suit their original design style from 1915, the outdoor label turns to contemporary trends and Japan’s anti-traditionalist movement for seasonal inspiration, whilst their collaborations with the likes of transatlantic print publication eye_C assists in honouring the visionary label’s international appeal and their cross-cultural, ungoverned narrative.
Adhering to the circulating trend of street-revised workwear, essentials from the brand’s latest AW21 collection include utilitarian layers such as the Overlay Vest, CMF Down Coat and the mechanical stretch Lotus Down Jacket. Coming full circle to honour their mountaineering foundations and their iconic outerwear legacy, the collaborative Overlay Vest is a water repellent NYCO-twill layer with a mesh lined interior, D-ring adjusters and tonal taped seams for increased all weather function, whilst the brand’s 850FP Down Coat boasts a 20D shell and breathable 15D nylon lined interior for a lightweight yet high functioning wear. Both focus on all season performativity at their core, whilst the kimono style Haori Shell Jacket offers a unique, culture influenced twist on an outdoor essential with its opened V-neck collar and its fidlock buckled waist. For a more compact everyday wear, additional waterproof layers such as the multi-pocketed Guide Shell Jacket and the creative Slash Shell Jacket deliver optimum protective coverage to suit any explorative, day-on-day setting.
Premium fabrics such as quick-drying MOVEFIT are utilised to construct boxy fitting silhouettes such as the brand’s no-hydrolysis Quick Dry Mesh T-Shirt, with other sportswear inspired revisions such as the OCTA lined Rabbit Hoodie designed to provide ample insulative coverage as and when required. The high-pile fleece exterior delivers a warming year-round wear, whilst the adjustable side profile flaps offer a creative take on classic lumberjack inspired headwear pieces. Combining homages to Japan’s notable sportswear legacy with their own ode to performative design, CMF Outdoor Garment finds itself neatly placed at a crossroad between conventionality and contemporary intent.
Built to handle the demands of the outdoors and any active lifestyle, CMF Outdoor Garment accessories such as the 40mm long Fidlock Belt and the 6 panel All Time Cap are designed to balance function with a nod toward traditional militaria values, whilst the brand’s youthful sense of character and their passion for exploring cross cultural narratives is retained throughout accessories such as the 100% Cordura Ballistic nylon Bigwell Vest and their continued honouring of their original, outdoor apparel roots.
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