Cult Japanese retailer BEAMS has just raided another legendary outdoor archive for its 50th birthday and resurrected REI's glorious 1986 parka

BEAMS has been celebrating its 50th anniversary by collaborating with seemingly... everyone.

The Japanese retailer has already dipped into the archives of some seriously big names as part of its anniversary celebrations.

These include Arc'teryx, Timex, and more, and now it's turned its attention to American outdoor institution REI Co-op.

The BEAMS x REI Co-op Expedition Parka is a gloriously oversized down jacket based on an REI design dating all the way back to 1986.

It comes complete with enormous baffles, huge patch pockets and a blue-and-orange colour scheme that makes absolutely no attempt to disguise its '80s origins.

The Expedition Parka is also not the first meeting between BEAMS and REI.

Both were involved in 2025's three-way collaboration with On, with REI's archive again inspiring the collection.

However, the parka is probably my new favourite, thanks to its ability to mix classic design with modern materials and manufacturing processes.

A storied design, retold

According to REI, the teams went well beyond simply examining the original Expedition Parka by looking through the American retailer's Living Archive in Seattle.

Also, additional vintage Expedition Parkas were sourced and taken apart so the designers could study details, such as loft, proportions, hand feel and hardware.

The resulting jacket preserves much of that old-school character, right down to the retro REI mountain logo embroidered onto the chest.

BEAMS branding appears across the hood, and there's a rather lovely internal label describing the project as “A storied design, retold.”

Underneath all that nostalgia, however, is a thoroughly modern outdoor jacket.

The shell uses WINDSTOPPER by GORE-TEX Labs, paired with 650-fill-power down insulation.

There's also a durable water-repellent finish made without intentionally added PFAS, recycled materials and construction in a Fair Trade Certified factory.

Heritage outdoor gear has become increasingly influential in contemporary fashion, and few companies understand the intersection between vintage Americana and Japanese streetwear quite as well as BEAMS.

Its 50th anniversary projects have repeatedly leaned into that history, including the recent BEAMS x Arc'teryx collection that revisited the Canadian brand's 1998 Theta AR Jacket.

Only 500 BEAMS x REI Co-op Expedition Parkas have been produced. The jacket launches on 6 October for $599, online at REI Co-op and in selected stores.