From Trails to Catwalks and Sidewalks: The Ascent of Outdoor Fashion

“We’re in an outdoor clothing boom, and the lines between camping trip and commute are blurrier than ever,” wrote style commerce writer Read Nelson for GQ, before launching into a ranking of the best outdoor brands of 2025.

It might seem that fashion’s infatuation with sport—and outdoor sport in particular—is relatively recent, but it dates way back. In the 19th century, the genteel pursuits of the leisure class had a lasting influence on dress, including the introduction of bloomers into women’s wear. (And now, more than a century later, bloomers are making a comeback, albeit in a decidedly non-outdoorsy form.)

Since 1956, when Sports Illustrated proclaimed that tennis wear was no longer a faux pas beyond the court, both athleisure and outdoor clothing have enjoyed a steady rise in popularity. With time, hoodies and jeans have become streetwear staples, eventually crossing into the workplace via Casual Friday.

The true urban outerwear revolution, however, did not begin until progress-minded startup “tech bros” adopted the now-ubiquitous—and widely mocked — Patagonia fleece vest. In doing so, they were sticking it to their establishment colleagues still buttoned into suits, a menswear essential developed decades earlier from military dress. Before long, Manhattan executives were eager to signal their relevance, and the co-branded Patagonia vest became a new uniform of masculine corporate power: practical, no-frills, and well-made.

Yet the outerwear trend extends far beyond the Patagonia fleece. Fashion journalists point to a growing desire for nature and travel that has rekindled the relationship between street fashion and outdoor wear. Trapped in nine-to-five jobs with overtime, many workers can only dream of a camping holiday, but dressed in a Marmot waterproof and Prana trousers, they can at least feel ready. And as outdoor brands increasingly lead in sustainability, many consumers also choose their products for social and environmental reasons.

There are, in fact, some ominous undertones to the fashion industry’s embrace of outerwear. High-fashion brands’ turn to technical materials reflects a broader sense of extreme weather-fuelled climate anxiety. The trend peaked in 2019, when Prada announced that performance in tough conditions was central to its design philosophy. Climbing ropes and carabiners were flaunted at catwalks as accessories, and a Louis Vuitton chalk bag retailed for over a thousand dollars. Climbing has remained close to fashion ever since: just last year, US Olympic medalist climber Brooke Raboutou made her Paris Fashion Week debut as a model. She wasn’t chosen for her “5’2” frame – anathema to catwalk standards – but for her athletic, outdoorsy prowess trending with young urbanites. 

The outdoor trend is far from homogeneous, and it has a touch of nostalgia epitomized by the rise of gorp-core. Gorp-core refers to outdoors-inspired fashion with a retro twist. It appears in the 2025 lookbook of French retailer Monoprix, featuring 1960s-style T-shirts with “National Park Climbing Area” slogans, and in Chaco sandals worn in the city. It is clothing that looks as though it could have been bought at Eddie Bauer—and while it is not designer, gorp-core is certainly a fashion statement.

Despite the trend’s complexity, the basic appeal of outdoor clothing for urban consumers is for its practicality, durability, and protection from the elements. Its popularity is such that Swiss mountaineering brand Mammut recently launched a tongue-in-cheek “rescue mission” to reclaim its garments from city streets and return them to the outdoors where they belong. Designed by a leading advertising agency, the campaign is likely to fulfill its goal: accelerating technical outerwear’s ascent far from the trails. We may all look forward to a future in which Gore-Tex becomes a city staple.