Winter jackets can be surprisingly expensive, especially when you want proper insulation and reliable waterproofing. However, you don't necessarily need to spend hundreds of pounds to stay warm and dry when temperatures drop.

Shop all waterproof jackets at Decathlon

Take Decathlon's Quechua NH500 waterproof hiking jacket, for example. At just £39.99, it costs far less than many technical winter coats, yet promises protection against rain, wind and snow, with enough insulation to keep you comfortable in temperatures as low as -10°C.

Even more impressively, the jacket has earned an average customer rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars from more than 12,700 reviews, with thousands of shoppers giving it full marks.

One five-star reviewer describes it as a "Great winter coat, super snug and waterproof", adding that it "got me through the whole winter."

Another customer is equally enthusiastic about its performance in poor weather, writing: "I've used this all through winter without getting cold or wet. No complaints at all."

The NH500 uses synthetic insulation, with 200g/m² of wadding around the body and 150g/m² in the sleeves.

That's a substantial amount of insulation for an affordable jacket, though the -10°C comfort rating will, of course, depend on your activity level and what you're wearing underneath.

Waterproofing comes courtesy of a polyurethane-coated outer fabric rated to withstand a 5,000mm hydrostatic head, with fully taped seams to prevent water from entering through the stitching.

That's not the kind of waterproof rating you'd expect from a premium mountaineering shell, but it should offer enough protection against typical British winter conditions.

Other practical features include an adjustable hood, Velcro cuffs, a drawcord hem and a protective flap behind the main zip to help keep cold air out.

Made with 49% recycled polyester, the jacket also has fleece-lined handwarmer pockets and a secure chest pocket for smaller essentials.

One compromise worth mentioning is the lack of a dedicated ventilation system, which could make it less suitable for strenuous hiking.

The Decathlon Quechua NH500 waterproof hiking jacket is available in five colour options, with prices starting at £39.99. The smoked black / terracotta brown model costs £5 more, still only £44.99.

Retro-inspired outdoor clothing is having something of a moment, with brands increasingly looking to their archives for inspiration.

Now, Swedish outdoor specialist Fjällräven is joining the party with a 3-piece capsule that looks delightfully vintage in all the right ways.

The Expedition Block Collection reimagines the brand's classic Expedition Down Lite Jacket with bold colour-blocked designs inspired by nature.

It brings a distinctly vintage aesthetic to a silhouette that can trace its roots back more than five decades.

Even though I have no qualms with how the brand's modern pieces look, the new range is a welcome departure from the more understated colours traditionally associated with Fjällräven.

On top of that, it's nice to see another major outdoor brand embracing its heritage as retro-inspired clothing continues to grow in popularity.

A 1970s classic gets a colourful update

The original Expedition Down Jacket was introduced in 1974, designed by Fjällräven founder Åke Nordin to provide serious insulation in the harsh Scandinavian winter.

More than 50 years later, its oversized profile, substantial hood and distinctive horizontal baffles remain instantly recognisable.

Fjällräven has focused on colour, introducing contrasting panels and unexpected combinations that recall the style of outdoor clothing catalogues from the 1970s or 1980s.

"For the Expedition Series, which has such history, colour blocking feels like a fresh approach," explains Fjällräven designer Samuel Stadell.

According to Stadell, the design team initially explored around 30 colourways before narrowing the collection down to five, with the final combinations drawing inspiration from natural landscapes.

Old-school looks, modern insulation

The Expedition Down Lite Jacket is a less bulky interpretation of the original Expedition Down Jacket designed for cold-weather adventures.

It uses down insulation arranged in sewn-through channels, with synthetic padding around the shoulders to help resist moisture and wear in areas particularly exposed to the elements.

The jacket also features an adjustable hood and hem, a two-way front zip, as well as three internal pockets.

The collection includes men's and women's versions of the jacket, alongside the limited-edition 1960 Leather Logo Hat, a two-layer lambswool beanie finished with a leather Fjällräven logo.

The Expedition Block collection launches today, 23 October 2026, and is available at Fjällräven UK and Fjällräven EU.

Both the men's and women's Expedition Down Lite Color Blocked Jackets are £550 / €550, while the 1960 Leather Logo Hat costs £60 / €64.95. US and AU prices and availability TBC.

YETI has spent years building a reputation for making some of the toughest coolers, drinkware and outdoor accessories money can buy.

Now, the American brand is taking that same approach to technical outdoor clothing.

The company has unveiled its first dedicated performance apparel collection, featuring waterproof jackets, insulated outerwear, merino wool midlayers and technical fleece.

The brand has sold T-shirts, hoodies, caps and other lifestyle merchandise for years.

However, this latest launch represents a significant departure from those products, putting YETI in direct competition with established outdoor brands such as Arc'teryx, Patagonia and The North Face.

And judging by the specifications, YETI isn't approaching the category half-heartedly.

From coolers to technical outerwear

The collection currently includes five products, with the Tilloo Rain Jacket, athree-layer waterproof shell, among the most exciting models.

YETI claims the jacket offers an impressive 40,000mm hydrostatic head rating, 45,000g/m²/24h breathability, and a RET rating of 4.67.

Those are some big numbers, even compared with established premium waterproof jackets, although laboratory specifications don't always translate to real-world performance. Still!

For colder conditions, there's the Tensleep Hooded Hybrid Down Jacket, which combines RDS-certified ExpeDRY down with traceable European Lavalan wool insulation.

The collection also includes the Hueco Merino 310 Full-Zip and Caprock Merino 250 Quarter-Zip, both of which use Nuyarn technology, and the Sansaba Fleece Full-Zip.

A new chapter for YETI

YETI has a long history of acquiring brands across different categories and using their know-how to launch its own products.

In 2024, the company acquired premium backpack manufacturer Mystery Ranch, subsequently incorporating its expertise into YETI's own outdoor equipment range.

In 2025, YETI also acquired the designs, patents and tooling of shaker bottle specialist Helimix for $38 million, using the technology to launch its own Yonder Shaker Bottle later that year.

There's no indication that YETI has acquired an established clothing manufacturer for this latest launch, but the collection demonstrates the company's ambition to become a more comprehensive outdoor brand.

It's also promising a longer-term commitment to apparel, confirming that additional styles, categories and seasonal collections are already planned.

The Performance Apparel collection is available now at YETI US, with prices from $180 for the Sansaba Fleece Full-Zip to $400 for the Tensleep Hooded Hybrid Down Jacket.

The Tilloo Rain Jacket costs $350, while the Caprock Merino 250 Quarter-Zip and Hueco Merino 310 Full-Zip are priced at $200 and $280, respectively.

For now, the collection is exclusive to the US, but it'll likely arrive in other regions in the coming months.

Finding a genuinely waterproof jacket that doesn't cost a fortune can be surprisingly difficult, especially when you want something that looks equally at home on a rainy commute as it does on a weekend walk.

Shop all Helly Hansen deals on Amazon

Fortunately, Amazon has reduced the price of the Helly Hansen Dubliner Jacket to £74.90, down from £95.75, saving you 22% on one of the Norwegian outdoor brand's most versatile waterproof shells.

The Dubliner uses a two-layer construction with a durable water-repellent (DWR) treatment and fully sealed seams to prevent rain from getting inside.

It has a quick-drying lining, adjustable cuffs and a hood that packs neatly into the collar. It's not an insulated winter jacket, so it's best to layer it with a fleece when it's cold.

Customer feedback is overwhelmingly positive, with the waterproof jacket currently holding a 4.5-star rating from more than 4,500 Amazon reviews.

One particularly enthusiastic buyer described how the Dubliner kept them completely dry during a torrential downpour in the Amazon rainforest, even protecting the camera equipment they had tucked underneath.

Another customer, who previously worked outdoors for the RNLI, praised the jacket's durability and waterproofing, calling it a "brilliant jacket all-round".

There are a few things worth considering before ordering. Helly Hansen itself warns that the Dubliner runs small and recommends sizing up by one or two sizes depending on your preferred fit.

Several Amazon customers echo that advice, particularly if you're planning to wear insulating layers underneath.

It might not be the lowest ever price for the Dubliner, but it's still a competitive price for a fully waterproof Helly Hansen jacket, especially one with such consistently positive customer feedback.

For anyone looking for a versatile rain jacket that can handle everything from the school run to a soggy weekend walk, the Dubliner is well worth considering.

If you've been living under a rock, you might have missed the trend of brands like Arc'teryx and Goldwin blurring the boundaries between high-performance mountain equipment and contemporary fashion.

Swedish outdoor specialist Klättermusen is taking that approach in an interesting new direction with The Signal, its first dedicated freeride collection.

Designed primarily for backcountry skiing and snowboarding, the range introduces roomier silhouettes, innovative fabric technologies and a distinctly futuristic aesthetic that wouldn't look out of place in a science-fiction film.

And while the technical features are clearly intended for demanding mountain environments, there's plenty here to appeal to anyone who appreciates well-designed outerwear.

Technical innovation meets futuristic styling

Famous for its nature-inspired apparel, Klättermusen has spent more than 50 years developing mountaineering equipment.

However, The Signal marks the first time the brand has created a collection specifically for freeride skiing and snowboarding.

Unlike traditional mountaineering clothing, which prioritises efficiency during sustained movement, freeride equipment needs to accommodate everything from strenuous climbs to high-speed descents.

To address these demands, Klättermusen has introduced more generous silhouettes that allow additional layers underneath while improving ventilation and freedom of movement.

Leading the collection is the Meile insulated shell system, which combines Klättermusen's proprietary Cutan waterproof technology with its Oculus Forte fabric.

The lightweight two-layer construction provides weather protection without the stiffness sometimes associated with technical waterproof garments, while Thermore Ecodown synthetic insulation delivers warmth.

(As a side note, Thermore seems to be the new Polartec, as seemingly everyone, including Patagonia, now uses the brand's insulation.)

Both the outer fabric and insulation are made from 100% post-consumer recycled polyester, with a fluorocarbon-free water-repellent treatment providing additional protection.

"One of the central design challenges was creating more structure and protective air space without losing the comfort, quietness and freedom of movement we are known for," explains Isabelle Liahaugen, Klättermusen's Head of Design & Development.

Beyond the mountains

While the Meile system is the collection's technical centrepiece, several other pieces demonstrate how Klättermusen's approach could appeal beyond the slopes.

The Brage 2.0 Jacket and Salopette offer a non-insulated alternative, using a three-layer version of Cutan technology alongside reinforced panels, ventilation and integrated RECCO reflectors.

The Gimle Hoodie is made using the brand's lofted Wuru Light fabric and combines 61% recycled polyester, 30% wool and 9% polyamide for warmth, breathability and quick-drying performance.

The relaxed silhouette also makes it particularly suitable for layering.

Completing the collection is the Gyme Backpack, available in 25- and 35-litre versions, featuring recycled polyamide construction and dedicated compartments for technical equipment.

Developed with input from mountain guides and testers in Northern Norway, The Signal demonstrates that serious outdoor performance and contemporary styling don't have to be mutually exclusive.

Klättermusen's The Signal collection launches today, 15 October 2026. For more information, visit Klättermusen.

Keeping warm during outdoor activities is usually a relatively straightforward affair.

You put on a fleece jacket and a waterproof shell, and you're good to go.

However, staying warm without overheating when you're constantly switching between high-intensity activities and rest is more complicated.

Polartec set out to solve this problem when it originally developed its Alpha insulation for military personnel operating in demanding environments.

Now, more than a decade later, the American textile specialist has introduced the next generation of Polartec Alpha.

It promises improved durability, greater design flexibility and the same exceptional breathability that made the original material popular among outdoor enthusiasts.

And some big names are already getting involved, including Patagonia, Goldwin and Purple Mountain Observatory.

From military technology to everyday outerwear

Unlike traditional synthetic insulation, which generally prioritises trapping heat, Polartec Alpha uses an open construction that allows air to circulate through the material.

This helps excess heat and moisture escape during strenuous activities, reducing the need to constantly remove and replace layers as your intensity changes.

It's particularly useful for activities such as hiking, trail running and cycling, where conditions and exertion levels can fluctuate considerably.

The original Alpha was designed primarily as an insulating layer sandwiched between other fabrics, but outdoor brands have increasingly started using the material in more exposed applications.

To address this, Polartec has developed a new patent-pending construction that improves the fabric's structural integrity, making it more resistant to snagging and shedding.

Crucially, the company claims these improvements don't compromise the material's lightweight warmth, breathability, compressibility or ability to regulate temperature.

The updated Alpha is also available in a broader selection of weights, textures and constructions, giving designers more freedom to create everything from technical outdoor clothing to lifestyle pieces.

According to Polartec, the development took more than four years of collaboration, prototyping and testing with performance apparel brands.

A new generation of technical fleece

One of the first examples of the technology is the Polartec Alpha Wool Hoodie from Purple Mountain Observatory.

The striking green hoodie combines the latest Alpha Wool construction with a blend of 54% recycled polyester, 40% wool and 6% nylon.

The wool adds natural temperature-regulating properties, while the synthetic fibres help manage moisture and maintain the material's lightweight performance.

Weighing 300g, the hoodie features a relaxed fit, elasticated cuffs, an adjustable-coverage hood opening and integrated thumb loops.

It's also a good example of how technical insulation is increasingly becoming a visible part of outdoor fashion rather than being tucked away.

Purple Mountain Observatory certainly isn't alone. Polartec says more than 11 brands are preparing products featuring the updated insulation, including Ornot, Senchi Designs, Farpointe and Goldwin.

Patagonia is also preparing an exclusive style using the new material, scheduled to arrive in November 2026.

The Polartec Alpha Wool Hoodie is available now at Purple Mountain Observatory for £220 / $345 / €266 / AU$425.

Finding the perfect jacket for autumn and winter isn't always straightforward. You need something waterproof enough to withstand the inevitable downpours, but also warm enough to keep you comfortable when temperatures drop.

Shop all jacket deals at Cotswold Outdoor

The North Face has a clever solution in the form of its Quest Triclimate 3-in-1 Jacket, which looks like a fairly conventional waterproof jacket from the outside but hides a useful feature underneath.

The Quest Triclimate's clever trick is its removable inner fleece, which can be detached from the waterproof outer shell and worn separately. This means you effectively get three jackets for the price of one, making the £165 asking price feel even more reasonable.

Wear the outer shell when it's raining but relatively mild, throw on the fleece when you need a little extra warmth, or combine the two when the weather turns particularly unpleasant. The outer jacket uses The North Face's DryVent waterproof technology, designed to keep rain out while allowing moisture vapour to escape.

It's a particularly practical arrangement for Britain's unpredictable weather, especially if you'd rather not invest in several different jackets for different conditions. The adjustable hood, cuffs and multiple pockets also make it a useful option for everything from commuting to weekend hikes.

The Quest Triclimate has already impressed one customer who put it through its paces on holiday in Norway. In a verified five-star review, the buyer praised the waterproof outer's performance, describing it as "lightweight and easy to dry".

They were equally impressed with the removable fleece, which they said kept them very warm despite its lightweight construction. The reviewer also highlighted the generous pocket space and ease of detaching the inner layer, ultimately rating the jacket's value for money as exceptional.

Patagonia has been making some of the best outdoor clothing for decades, but I've always had a particular soft spot for its older designs.

The bold colours, contrasting panels, oversized logos and slightly eccentric aesthetic of its early mountain gear have a charm that's difficult to replicate.

(Just watch Vertical Limit on Netflix – sooooooo good.)

That's why I'm particularly excited about the brand's new Mountain Minded collection, which celebrates Patagonia's snow sports heritage dating back to the early 1980s.

Patagonia has taken inspiration from its early designs and applied it to a selection of contemporary outdoor essentials, including fleeces, insulated jackets, technical base layers, T-shirts and accessories.

Back to where it all began

According to Patagonia, the collection celebrates the period when the company was developing some of its first dedicated snow sports clothing.

The idea was to capture the spirit of an era when skiing, mountaineering and backcountry exploration were less about performance metrics and more about getting out into the mountains.

"The mountains are a state of mind," the brand explains, describing the collection as a celebration of its early 1980s snow styles, complete with throwback labels, vintage colours and heritage designs.

In an accompanying behind-the-scenes video, Patagonia's design team explains how it revisited the company's archives to find inspiration.

Mitch Bloom, who works on graphics and art direction, says the team examined historical trims and labels, including those associated with Chouinard, the climbing equipment company founded by Patagonia creator Yvon Chouinard.

The designers also drew inspiration from some of the brand's more obscure products, including the Mountain Lounger and vintage telemark skis.

The latter inspired the striped graphics that appear throughout the collection, while the updated heritage branding gives even relatively simple pieces a distinctly retro feel.

Old-school looks, modern outdoor gear

One of my favourite pieces is the Lightweight Synchilla Snap-T Pullover, which combines a muted two-tone fleece design with contrasting purple trim and an old-school Patagonia chest label.

The Men's Retro Pile Pullover is another highlight, offering a more understated take on the vintage aesthetic with its fluffy fleece construction and relaxed silhouette.

The Capilene base layers offer modern technical performance with some decidedly old-school patterns.

The best thing about the collection is that it feels recognisably retro without looking like fancy dress, and most of the pieces should work just as well around town as they do on a mountain getaway.

It's also refreshing to see the brand having some fun with its extensive design history.

The Patagonia Mountain Minded collection is available now through the brand's official website. Prices vary depending on the product.

In the US, the Lightweight Synchilla Snap-T Pullover costs $149, the Men's Retro Pile Pullover is $159, and the Women's Insulated Snowfarer Jacket is $369. Accessories start at $39 for the Kids' Logo Beanie, while the Black Hole Duffel 70L costs $209.

Availability and pricing may vary between regions, with some pieces and colourways potentially exclusive to certain markets.

Fjällräven has unveiled a new expedition-ready down jacket designed to keep people warm – and alive – in some of the harshest environments on Earth (a.k.a. the mountains).

Best known for its iconic Kånken backpacks and rugged outdoor clothing, the Swedish outdoor specialist's Bergtagen collection takes a more technical approach to outdoor adventures.

The latest addition to the range, the Bergtagen Topp Down Jacket, combines high-loft goose down with strategically placed synthetic insulation to deliver warmth where it's needed most.

It's a clever approach that addresses some of the traditional weaknesses of down insulation, particularly its tendency to lose effectiveness when compressed or exposed to moisture.

The best of both worlds

The company says the Bergtagen Topp Down Jacket uses premium 800-fill-power down, which provides an impressive warmth-to-weight ratio without requiring excessive bulk.

The jacket also uses box-wall construction, a technique typically found in high-end expedition clothing and sleeping bags.

Unlike conventional stitched-through baffles, which can create cold spots along the seams, box-wall construction separates the down chambers using internal fabric walls.

This allows the insulation to maintain its loft more consistently, helping to trap warm air throughout the jacket.

However, Fjällräven hasn't relied exclusively on down. The Bergtagen Topp also incorporates PrimaLoft synthetic insulation around the neck and shoulders, where backpack straps and moisture can compromise the performance of traditional down.

Synthetic insulation generally retains warmth better when damp and can withstand repeated compression more effectively than down.

By combining the two materials, Fjällräven aims to deliver the warmth and packability of natural down alongside the resilience of synthetic insulation in high-stress areas.

Built to last

Beyond its insulation, the Bergtagen Topp Down Jacket features a recycled polyamide shell designed to resist wind and moisture.

It's worth noting that this isn't a waterproof jacket, so you'll still want a protective shell, such as the Bergtagen shell that uses GORE-TEX ePE technology, if you're expecting prolonged rain or wet snow.

The outer fabric is reinforced in areas most likely to experience abrasion to help the jacket withstand contact with climbing equipment, backpacks and rough terrain.

Fjällräven has also designed these high-wear areas with repairability in mind, an increasingly important consideration for technical outdoor clothing that can cost several hundred pounds.

The overall design prioritises functionality over fashion, with a protective hood and an expedition-focused silhouette intended to accommodate additional layers underneath.

Despite its substantial insulation, the jacket is designed to remain packable, making it suitable for carrying in a backpack until temperatures drop or you stop moving.

The Fjällräven Bergtagen Topp Down Jacket is available now in men's and women's versions, priced at £625 in the UK, €700 in Europe and £750 in the US. AU price and availability TBC.

Patagonia has teamed up with Italian insulation specialist Thermore for its latest launch, the Heyes Peak 3-in-1 Parka.

Unlike some of the outdoor brand's more technical garments, the new casual insulated jacket is designed for everyday wear and not demanding mountain adventures.

It combines a weather-resistant outer shell (essentially, a waterproof jacket) made from recycled fishing nets with a removable insulated layer constructed from recycled plastic bottles.

Probably because of its more approachable nature, the Heyes Peak Parka is set to be one of the brand's most interesting pieces for this season, especially as we look ahead to the unpredictable autumn and winter months.

Two jackets are better than one

The Heyes Peak 3-in-1 Parka's outer uses Patagonia's NetPlus recycled nylon ripstop fabric, made from discarded fishing nets collected to help reduce plastic pollution in the oceans.

Inside, you'll find Thermore EVOdown, a synthetic insulation designed to mimic the softness and loft of traditional down without using animal-derived materials.

Thermore might not be as instantly recognisable as outdoor titans GORE-TEX or PrimaLoft, but the family-run Italian company has been developing technical insulation for decades.

I've covered its technology before, including the Trailberg jacket that turns plastic waste into winter insulation.

Thermore's EVOdown technology uses 100% recycled polyester fibres and is designed to provide lightweight warmth with a soft, down-like feel.

The 3-in-1 design isn't a revolutionary concept, but the combination of recycled materials and modular construction makes the Heyes Peak particularly appealing as an everyday winter jacket.

And unlike some of Patagonia's more technical outerwear, the collection has a relatively understated look that should work just as well on the commute as on a weekend walk.

Built for the everyday adventures

Despite its casual styling, there's some serious outdoor technology involved with the Heyes Peak 3-in-1 Parka.

The outer jacket features Patagonia's waterproof H2No Performance Standard construction, including a two-layer shell, an adjustable hood and a storm flap.

Interestingly, the outer shell uses recycled polyester sourced from coastal communities at risk of plastic pollution, and the removable inner jacket uses NetPlus fishing-net material.

The parka also uses durable water-repellent treatments made without intentionally added PFAS.

At 1,020g, it's not particularly lightweight (let's not forget it's a 3-in-1 garment, though), but that's arguably less important for a jacket intended for commuting, travelling and everyday winter adventures.

The Heyes Peak 3-in-1 Parka is available in men's and women's versions, priced at £480 in the UK, €500 in Europe and $569 in the US. AU price and availability TBC.

You can read more about the collaboration at Thermore.

Few jackets have made the leap from mountain expeditions to streetwear quite as successfully as The North Face's Nuptse.

Originally introduced in 1992, the distinctive puffer has become one of the most recognisable pieces of outerwear in the world, embraced by everyone from mountaineers to hip-hop royalty.

And although its signature boxy silhouette has remained largely unchanged for more than three decades, The North Face isn't afraid to experiment with the formula.

The latest example is the new Pertex Nuptse Reversible Jacket, which combines the familiar design with upgraded technical materials and a clever two-in-one construction.

Part of the brand's Autumn/Winter 2026 Ever Icons collection, the jacket celebrates The North Face's 60th anniversary by giving one of its most famous designs a fresh twist.

Two sides to every story

The biggest selling point of the new Pertex Nuptse is, unsurprisingly, its reversible construction.

One side features the familiar quilted baffles that have defined the Nuptse since the early 1990s, while the other has a smoother, matte finish that gives the jacket a more understated appearance.

The Pertex Nuptse uses 700-fill recycled goose down to provide warmth without excessive bulk, paired with Pertex Quantum fabric.

The latter is a lightweight, tightly woven material designed to improve insulation efficiency and prevent down from escaping through the fabric.

The North Face also highlights the jacket's water-repellent exterior, providing some protection against damp conditions.

(It's not a waterproof jacket, though.)

An icon that keeps evolving

The reversible Nuptse arrives alongside the new Summit Nuptse, which takes a more technical approach to updating the classic design.

The Summit version features 800-fill ProDown insulation, abrasion-resistant Spectra materials and an insulated hood, making it better suited to demanding mountain environments.

The Pertex version, meanwhile, leans into the Nuptse's considerable cultural influence.

It's a fitting direction for a jacket that became a favourite among New York's hip-hop community in the 1990s, appearing on artists including The Notorious B.I.G. and Redman before becoming a fixture of modern streetwear.

And for those who prefer the original, the classic 1996 Retro Nuptse remains part of the collection.

The North Face Pertex Nuptse Reversible Jacket is available in men's and women's versions, priced at £325 in the UK, $430 in the US and €360 in Europe. AU pricing has yet to be confirmed.

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.

Vollebak has made jackets from some pretty unconventional materials over the years, including copper and wood, but its latest experiment might be its most wonderfully absurd yet.

The British clothing brand has unveiled the Rock Jacket, and in this case, the name quite literally refers to the material it's made from.

More specifically, Vollebak has covered the garment in thousands of tiny squares of slate, creating something that looks like a futuristic body armour from Minecraft. And I'm 100% on board with the idea.

The reason why I'm not buying the Rock Jacket is that there is only one made and it costs £50,000, so it's slightly out of my price range.

Rock and roll

While some might focus on the price tag, the most interesting aspect of the jacket is how Vollebak managed to turn a material generally associated with roofs and floors into something you can actually move around in.

The project began with French designer and material technologist Steven Leprizé, whom Vollebak originally approached about making a more wearable version of its experimental Wooden Jacket.

Leprizé adapted his WooWood elastic marquetry technique, which uses hundreds of small wooden tiles backed with rubber, replacing the wood with slate.

The slate arrives in sheets measuring 100cm by 50cm and just 0.5mm thick, which are then cut into tiny 5mm × 5mm squares before being attached to a neoprene backing.

The tiny gaps between the tiles allow the material to twist and move without completely disguising the slate's naturally uneven surface.

Vollebak says there are around 50 steps involved in making the material, with Leprizé describing cutting the tiles as the most important part of the process.

Stone Age tech meets sci-fi

Vollebak has turned that material into a relatively minimalist, cropped Harrington-style jacket.

The slate sheets are laser-cut, the seams are deliberately left visibly taped, and Cordura pockets and a zip provide the Rock Jacket a reassuringly conventional feel.

From a distance, it almost resembles leather or some exotic technical laminate, but once you get closer, the grid of individual stone tiles becomes obvious.

Even though there's only one made, Vollebak sees the Rock Jacket as more than an expensive one-off experiment.

Co-founder Nick Tidball suggests rock could eventually become a legitimate clothing material, although he acknowledges developing the idea could take a decade or longer.

The Vollebak Rock Jacket is available now for £50,000, although "available" is doing some heavy lifting here: only a single example has been made.

Element has reunited with French mountaineering specialist Millet, and the resulting collection goes considerably harder than it has any right to.

The Escape from the Concrete Jungle – Le Deuxième Chapitre is the second Millet x Element collaboration that once again attempts to find common ground between climbing and skateboarding.

And while outdoor-meets-streetwear collaborations are everywhere right now, the two brands have produced something delightfully strange, technical, gloriously retro and well worth checking out.

The collection spans technical outerwear, waterproof jackets, fleeces, trousers, bags, accessories and casual staples, with a colour palette dominated by browns, burgundy, orange and navy.

There are also wonderfully loud graphics that look like they've escaped from a late-'90s climbing catalogue.

Approach shoes have never looked this good

The Millet x Element Friction might be my favourite piece from the entire collection.

These approach shoes combine a gloriously hairy suede leather upper with a chunky black rand and Vibram outsole, finished with orange laces and detailing.

Approach shoes and low-profile hiking footwear have been steadily crossing over into everyday wardrobes.

However, no matter how good they look, the shoes are 'proper' approach footwear, and Element says only 250 pairs have been produced.

The fleece is pure retro outdoor perfection

As well as the Friction shoes, the Millet x Element Multi Fleece Jacket might be the piece I'd actually wear most.

Its 300gsm recycled polar fleece construction is broken up with contrasting burgundy panels, an asymmetric chest pocket and the collaboration's deliberately wonky graphics.

It looks like something you'd discover buried at the back of a particularly good vintage outdoor shop, except it's brand new.

Another standout piece, the Millet x Element GORE-TEX Jacket, uses recycled 75D GORE-TEX fabric with a quoted 28,000mm waterproof rating and combines a dark burgundy upper with a violently orange lower section.

Apparently, shoppers weren't put off by the £490 asking price, either. At the time of writing, the jacket is already listed as sold out on Element's UK website.

The Millet x Element Escape from the Concrete Jungle – Le Deuxième Chapitre collection is available now from Element, with prices ranging from £22 for the beanie to £530 for the Puff Down Jacket.

Nike ACG has unveiled its Holiday 2026 collection, featuring an awful lot of purple, and I’m very much on board with it.

The collection includes the ACG Lava Flow Ultralight Jacket, which Nike describes as having the highest warmth-to-weight ratio of any ACG jacket it has made so far.

Alongside it is an updated version of the ACG Misery Ridge GORE-TEX Jacket, joined for the first time by matching trousers to create a complete waterproof shell system.

Purple reign

The Lava Flow is undoubtedly the star for me, particularly in the gloriously unsubtle Bold Berry and Monarch Purple colourways.

It features 1,000-fill-power ExpeDRY Gold goose down, Nike's Therma-FIT ADV technology and a water-repellent outer.

One of the more interesting technologies involved in the jacket, ExpeDRY, bonds tiny amounts of recycled gold recovered from electronic waste to the down to prevent clumping when exposed to sweat, humidity and moisture.

Despite all that insulation (and tech), the jacket weighs just 255g / 9oz in a men's medium, while a women's small comes in at 217g / 7.6oz.

It also stuffs into its own pocket and apparently compresses to something smaller than a 32oz water bottle.

Nike says the wider collection was informed by time spent in Yunnan, China, where the ACG team encountered rain, snow, ice and rapidly changing high-altitude conditions.

Even the colours take inspiration from the area's granite, limestone and alpine skies, supplemented by ACG's safety orange and, thankfully, that vivid purple.

ACG's GORE-TEX shell gets an update

The Misery Ridge jacket and new matching trousers use three-layer GORE-TEX with Nike Storm-FIT ADV, articulated construction, adjustable details, secure storage and zippered ventilation.

And while the purple Lava Flow is perhaps the loudest piece, the purple, royal blue and almost radioactive yellow Misery Ridge colourway might be even more characteristically ACG.

The pieces have that slightly chaotic early-ACG energy without sacrificing the genuinely technical construction underneath.

Nike's UK currently lists the Lava Flow at £369.99, with the women's purple version marked as coming soon. The blue men's version is already available for the same price.

The Holiday 2026 release lists the US Lava Flow at $400, while the Misery Ridge Jacket and trousers launch on 1 December for $450 and $400 respectively.

UK pricing for the Misery Ridge Jacket is currently listed at £459.99 for the Black/Summit White colourway.

Patagonia has produced plenty of excellent fleeces over the years, but few are quite as recognisable as the Synchilla Snap-T.

Its contrasting chest pocket, high collar and row of snap fasteners have become part of the outdoor brand’s visual language, and right now you can pick up the Lightweight Synchilla Snap-T Fleece Pullover for 30% less as part of Patagonia’s Past Season Gear sale.

Shop Patagonia's Past Season Gear Sale

The original Snap-T arrived in 1985 after Patagonia worked with Malden Mills, now Polartec, on Synchilla, a synthetic fleece designed to provide a lighter, faster-drying alternative to the wool layers commonly worn in the mountains at the time.

The version on sale is the Lightweight Synchilla Snap-T, but the basic formula remains reassuringly familiar.

It uses soft, double-sided Synchilla fleece made from 95–100% recycled polyester, with a four-snap front placket that lets you dump a little heat when necessary. The stand-up collar adds extra protection around your neck, while elasticated cuffs and hem help keep warmth trapped inside.

There’s also the signature snap-flap chest pocket, which uses NetPlus recycled nylon made from discarded fishing nets. Despite being a genuinely useful outdoor layer, the whole thing weighs just 374g, making it easy to throw over a T-shirt or layer beneath a waterproof jacket when the weather turns.

And that’s probably where the Synchilla makes the most sense today. It has enough outdoor heritage to work for walking, camping and weekends away, but its retro styling means it looks equally at home with jeans and trainers.

Importantly, not every colour is discounted, so make sure you select one of Patagonia’s past-season options. The particularly good-looking Nautilus Tan colourway is currently reduced from £120 to £84.

This is a big moment. It’s the first time I’m reviewing anything from Japanese outdoor specialist Montbell on T3. Better still, I’ve been testing one of the brand’s ‘entry-level’ waterproof shells, the Thunder Pass, which feels like the perfect introduction to what the company does so well.

What makes the Thunder Pass fascinating is its ability to deliver high-end specs at an affordable price. It’s not often you get a 3-layer construction with decent waterproofing and breathability below the £200/$200 mark. On top of that, you get a 50D ripstop outer and a fabric that feels surprisingly light and supple for something this durable.

I’ve been testing the Thunder Pass for the last few weeks, and it’s quickly becoming my go-to everyday waterproof shell, not just because it looks great. I love Arc’teryx and Montane waterproofs as much as anyone, but many of them feel built for the mountains. The Thunder Pass feels just as at home everywhere else, and that’s exactly where I’ve been using it.

Montbell Thunder Pass Jacket review

Price and availability

The Thunder Pass has been part of Montbell's range for well over 15 years, but the jacket was refreshed for 2026, replacing the long-running #1128635 version with the new #1128770 model, which I tested.

It’s available for £140 / $150 / €149 / AU$250 at Montbell UK, Montbell US, Montbell EU and Montbell AU. In the UK, the jacket comes in seven colours. I tested the wonderful yellow colourway.

Design and build quality

The Thunder Pass uses Montbell’s own DRY-TEC waterproofing technology, a 3-layer PFAS-free construction with a 20,000mm hydrostatic head rating. It’s rated at 15,000 gsm/ 24 for breathability.

If you don’t know what those numbers mean, all you need to know is that the Thunder Pass will protect you from moisture without making you feel too stuffy. Better still, the 3-layer fabric feels supple and light, which is unusual for such a well-specced shell.

Speaking of weight, my men’s medium jacket weighs a mere 328g (11.6oz), which isn’t incredibly lightweight but plenty light for the purpose. It feels light enough to have in your bag as an emergency layer, should the rain start pouring.

Despite its supple, lightweight nature, the Thunder Pass features a 50-denier nylon ripstop outer fabric with a water-repellent finish. The different panels are connected with neat stitches that are fully seam-sealed on the inside to prevent water from entering.

The colour-matched Aqua-Tect zip runs through the full length of the front of the jacket, and the pocket zips should be water-repellent, too. There are no pit zips, which might be an issue for ‘serious’ hikes, but for everyday use, the breathable fabric and the front zip offer more than enough ventilation.

The tri-axial hood offers a close fit, but I wish the front extended a bit more to keep rain from hitting my face. I really like Arc’teryx’s hood design, and even though I appreciate that the Beta AR is more of a mountaineering shell than an urban jacket, the same feature that keeps your face moisture-free at high altitudes could do the same in the city.

The website says the Thunder Pass’s hood should roll up with a hook-and-loop tab fastener, but I couldn’t figure out how to do it. On the other hand, the cuffs are adjustable with a Velcro-style strap, and there are elastic hem drawcords to prevent drafts from entering the jacket from below.

Oh, Montbell supplies a colour-matched stuff bag with the jacket, which is not only a nice gesture but it also makes it easier to keep it tidy in your backpack. Excellent thinking!

Performance

I love the supple nature of the Thunder Pass (might have mentioned this a couple of times already) – it makes the jacket perfect for its purpose as an everyday shell. Three-layer fabrics can feel horrible, plasticky/clammy, but Montbell’s DRY-TEC material allows full freedom of movement and doesn’t make squishy sounds, either.

I used the shell on various occasions, including a full (very rainy) day in London, windy days by the coast and walks around the countryside. The London day proved to be an excellent test for the waterproofing, not just because of the relentless rain but also because I wore a backpack, which made me hotter.

To my delight, the Thunder Pass performed exceptionally well, neither wetting out nor letting moisture in. Granted, I got a bit hot while pounding the streets of London, but that would happen in any layer, so I wouldn’t chalk that up to a Thunder Pass’s inability to ventilate my body heat.

Wind protection is excellent, too, but as I mentioned above, I would have appreciated a more protective hood. The hood adjustability is good, and I like that there is a little lip at the front to keep the rain and wind out of your face when it’s coming sideways.

The length is perfect; the back is slightly longer so that you can lean forward without exposing your lower back. The arms are also the correct size, and I appreciated the Velcro-style fasteners at the cuffs, which allow quick and precise adjustments.

The front zipper is worth its own paragraph. The Aqua-Tect model integrates water-resistant properties directly into the zipper track, eliminating the need for storm flaps. Not only does it reduce fabric weight, but it also prevents the zip from catching. It’s a bit stiff, though, so the zipper can make the fabric bulge in the midsection. Not my favourite look!

Verdict

The Montbell Thunder Pass is proof that a properly capable 3-layer waterproof shell doesn’t have to cost north of £300. It feels unusually soft and supple for such a protective jacket, packs down easily, looks good enough for everyday wear and still has the waterproofing and durability needed for hiking.

There are a few compromises, most notably the lack of pit zips and a hood that could offer more protection around the face, but neither feels particularly serious at this price. The Thunder Pass offers exceptional value and has quickly become one of my favourite everyday waterproof shells.

Also consider

If money is less of an issue, the Arc’teryx Beta AR is a considerably more technical shell designed for serious mountain use. Its GORE-TEX PRO ePE construction, excellent DropHood, and pit zips offer greater protection and ventilation, though at £600, it costs more than four times as much as the Thunder Pass. Eek!

For something more hiking-focused, the Mountain Equipment Makalu is an excellent option. Its rugged 3-layer GORE-TEX ePE construction, helmet-compatible hood and pit zips make it better suited to long days in the mountains, while its £300 price sits neatly between the affordable Thunder Pass and flagship alpine shells.

Disney merch doesn’t usually come with fully seam-sealed waterproofing, but Columbia’s latest Mickey’s Outdoor Club collection certainly does.

After years of collabs, the outdoor brand has reunited with Disney yet again for a special-edition range, this time imagining Mickey Mouse and friends heading off on a classic American road trip.

The artwork running across the collection depicts Mickey, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, Pluto and Humphrey the Bear hiking, camping and exploring among towering redwoods.

It’s considerably more outdoorsy than simply sticking a Mickey logo on an existing jacket.

Columbia has worked the Disney theme into some of its established technical designs, with the CSC x Disney Mickey Ibex Rain Shell sitting at the top of the range.

The $180 waterproof shell uses Columbia’s Omni-Tech waterproof-breathable construction with fully sealed seams, but brings back some of the wonderfully silly details from previous Disney collaborations.

Those include stowable Mickey Mouse ears on the hood and Mickey-shaped ventilation ports.

Mickey’s Outdoor Club hits the road

Instead of the more overtly ’90s, ski-inspired look of 2025, the new range revolves around a family road-trip adventure, with custom illustrations featuring trails, campfires and forests.

It's not too dissimilar to 2024's Floyd Gottfredson-inspired range, but adds a tone akin to “family fun on the trail, around the campfire, and beyond”.

The collection includes men’s, women’s and kids’ Half Snap Fleeces, graphic T-shirts and a ball cap, alongside youth and toddler versions of the Ibex jacket.

The supplied range sheet also shows the collection branching into accessories, such as the Disney Water Bottle Sling and a matching Water Bottle.

As expected from the Columbia x Disney range, there are plenty of smaller Disney references hidden throughout.

Columbia says Mickey-head silhouettes appear on the fleece snap buttons, while the rain shells feature character artwork on the inside.

The youth Ibex, for example, has a Pluto print and a Mickey’s Outdoor Club membership graphic that kids can add their name to.

Columbia Greater Rewards members get early access from 7 a.m. PT on 29 September – 3 p.m. UK time – before the collection opens to everyone at the same time on 30 September.

Greater Rewards membership is free; you just need to create an account. The programme also includes free shipping, points on purchases and member-only early access.

The US range currently spans 15 products, with prices ranging from $25 for the youth graphic tee to $180 for the adult Ibex Rain Shell.

For more information on the collection, head over to Columbia.

Patagonia might be best known for technical outdoor gear, but some of its most wearable pieces borrow heavily from old-school workwear.

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The Point Reyes Canvas Jacket is a good example. It has the kind of simple, rugged shape that works just as well over a T-shirt in early autumn as it does layered over knitwear once temperatures start to fall.

And right now, Patagonia has knocked 40% off the Gumtree Green version, bringing the price down from £150 to £90!

The brand uses a hefty 9.5oz 100% Regenerative Organic Certified cotton canvas that gives the Point Reyes considerably more structure than your average lightweight overshirt.

Patagonia describes it as its rugged Stand Up canvas, and the jacket weighs a fairly substantial 726g. Along with the button front, flap chest pocket and oversized patch pockets, the corduroy collar makes the Point Reyes look and feel like a classic chore jacket.

The Gumtree Green colourway has that slightly faded olive appearance that suits the workwear aesthetic nicely, and the brown collar gives it just enough contrast to stop the whole thing looking too plain.

The jacket has a regular fit, and the front pockets have both top and side entry for added versatility. It’s made in a Fair Trade Certified factory.

The Patagonia Point Reyes Canvas Jacket is currently £90, reduced from £150, in Gumtree Green. At the time of writing, Patagonia is showing multiple sizes available, although past-season stock can disappear quickly.

Haglöfs has teamed up with fellow Swedish outfit KA-YO for a new two-piece outdoor collection that proves a collaboration doesn’t necessarily need wild colours or oversized logos to stand out.

The PROTOTYPE® (H-001) + Haglöfs is the first capsule that takes two existing Haglöfs staples and gives them KA-YO’s distinctly technical _Prototype® treatment.

Both the Front Proof shell and Magma 40L backpack are almost entirely black, punctuated by small flashes of bright orange hardware and sparse H-001 and Prototype branding.

It isn’t radically removed from Haglöfs’ usual understated aesthetic, but the details give the collection a sharper, almost development-sample feel.

Haglöfs describes the project as bringing together the companies’ “shared heritage of Nordic functionality”, while KA-YO has given the collaboration the rather more mysterious title The Impossible Playground.

This is officially “drop 1”, too, suggesting there’s more to come.

More than an orange zip

The more exciting of the two pieces is the Front Proof Prototype Jacket, partly because it has serious weather-protection prowess.

The waterproof shell uses Haglöfs’ three-layer PROOF Pro shell fabric, made from 100% recycled polyester, with a 20,000mm waterproof rating and 20,000g/m²/24h breathability.

Other features include a lightweight, helmet-compatible hood, a two-way front zip, a zipped chest pocket, ventilation openings and higher hand pockets that remain usable while wearing a backpack.

The Magma Prototype 40L – the backpack component of the collection – is a lightweight frameless hiking pack weighing approximately 800g.

Its recycled ripstop construction features taped seams and water resistance, while a roll-top closure lets you adjust the capacity depending on how much gear you’re carrying.

A V-shaped compression system helps secure the load, and you also get external pockets, attachment points, padded shoulder straps and a supportive hip belt.

KA-YO operates somewhere between an outdoor retailer, a design platform and a performance-fashion label from its Stockholm base.

Its Prototype line leans heavily into experimental materials and highly technical-looking design.

Haglöfs, on the other hand, supplies the genuine mountain credentials.

The Haglöfs x KA-YO collection is available now, with Haglöfs listing the Front Proof Prototype Jacket for £219 and the Magma Prototype 40L for £159 in the UK.

European pricing is €319 and €229, respectively. US and AU prices and availability TBC.

Last year, Mammut teamed up with British designer Nigel Cabourn on a collection inspired by the 1969 Direttissima ascent of the Eiger, combining vintage mountaineering references with modern materials.

This year, the Swiss outdoor brand has handed the keys to its archive to Japanese designer Junya Watanabe, whose eYe JUNYA WATANABE MAN label has reworked the brand’s technical mountain gear into something considerably more fashion-forward.

The seven-piece capsule comprises six jackets and a backpack, with Watanabe drawing on decades of Mammut alpine design.

The result sits in the perfect intersection of expedition kit, workwear, and high-end Japanese menswear.

You get oversized pockets, long technical silhouettes, bold Mammut Red, corduroy collars and enough black outerwear to equip an exceptionally stylish (and stealthy) alpine expedition.

From mountain shells to waterproof tailoring

One of the most interesting pieces is the WR-C910 Mod Coat, which takes the construction of a three-layer hardshell and stretches it into a much longer, city-friendly silhouette.

The WR-J911 Ventile Jacket is made from weather-resistant Ventile cotton and features utility details, including multiple external pockets and a detachable hood.

Things get stranger with the WR-J910 Puckered Jacket, which is essentially a weather-resistant technical blazer with a three-layer fabric construction reshaped into one of Watanabe's more familiar tailored silhouettes.

It weighs just 413g and still gets practical touches, including wrist adjustment, an internal mesh pocket and a zipped chest pocket.

The flagship WR-J927 Premiere Down Jacket uses what Mammut describes as premium eiderdown, one of the collection's most extravagant materials.

There’s even a relatively restrained backpack (the most affordable option), finished with a rope-inspired grab handle and a small Mammut mascot dangling from a climbing carabiner.

The collection is available now, having launched globally on 24 September through selected Mammut channels and premium retailers.

In the UK, the Puckered Jacket starts at £555, while the Mod Coat and WR-J912 Jacket are £955, the Down Jacket costs £975, and the Ventile Jacket jumps to £1,220.

But the showstopper is the WR-J927 Premiere Down Jacket at a frankly spectacular £2,885. Against that backdrop, the £140 backpack suddenly looks almost suspiciously reasonable.

This week’s best style drops are all doing something a little unexpected with familiar ideas.

G-SHOCK has borrowed from origami to rethink how a watch strap moves around the wrist, Db has turned its best-known backpack into a barely-there ultralight version, and Gramicci is making a convincing case for hemp as an everyday trouser fabric.

Elsewhere, 66°North is dipping into a century of Icelandic workwear, Universal Works and TAION have reworked RAF-inspired outerwear with Japanese down, and Flower Mountain has handed its trail-flavoured Yamano 3 to New York streetwear institution Staple.

It’s a good snapshot of where style is heading into autumn, with technical fabrics, outdoor influences and heritage references still everywhere, but the most interesting pieces coming from brands willing to reinterpret them rather than simply repeat them.

Universal Works has reunited with Japanese down specialist TAION for the second instalment of the pair’s Future Friendship Project.

The new collection takes some of Universal Works’ most recognisable pieces and reworks them around lightweight down construction.

Chief among them are the Universal Works Cardigan and Rams Jacket, two styles traditionally associated with wool fleece that have now been filled with TAION’s signature down for the first time.

The result is exactly the sort of British-meets-Japanese outerwear mash-up you’d hope for, combining Universal Works’ relaxed workwear shapes with the quilted construction TAION has become known for.

Alongside the more restrained seasonal shades are pink and yellow options, plus a new Cloud Camo pattern that prevents the collection from drifting into generic technical-puffer territory.

Military layers with a modular twist

The most technical piece is probably the new CR RAF Jacket, which draws on vintage RAF flying jackets and pairs a water-resistant outer shell with a removable down liner.

The two parts can be worn together in colder weather or separately in milder conditions.

Military references continue elsewhere in the collection, for example in the returning Down Mod Parka, which now also comes in new colourways.

Both jackets can be customised with six removable badges inspired by traditional insignia, British subcultures and music.

Universal Works says wearers can leave the supplied patches in place, remove them altogether or swap in their own.

A reversible down trapper hat rounds out the collection and is available in five colour combinations.

This is the second TAION collection produced under Universal Works’ Future Friendship Project, an initiative designed around long-term collaborations rather than one-off drops.

The relationship began after the two brands met while sharing a showroom in Paris, with Universal Works later visiting TAION’s team in Nagoya during a trip to Japan.

The accompanying campaign was shot around Tokyo, which feels particularly fitting.

Universal Works’ distinctly British take on relaxed workwear sits surprisingly naturally alongside TAION’s lightweight Japanese down expertise, and this latest collection leans further into that overlap than their first.

The new collection is available now from Universal Works, with prices starting at £60 / $82 / €63.95 (AU$113).

Founded in a small Icelandic fishing village in 1926, 66°North has spent the past century making clothing for some fairly unforgiving conditions.

This year marks the company's 100th anniversary, and the Icelandic outdoor brand has already been busy celebrating it.

For its latest capsule, 66ºNorth dug through the archives and brought back ten pieces spanning ten decades of its history.

The aptly named 100-Year Capsule stretches from the protective clothing 66°North originally produced for North Atlantic fishermen to technical shells and down jackets that helped turn it into the outdoor and lifestyle brand it is today.

As you would expect, 66°North has updated the designs with modern performance fabrics while retaining their archive silhouettes, colours and details.

Bookending the collection are the Slippurinn Anorak, first introduced in 1926 and now reimagined using Gore-Tex Windstopper, and the Snæfell Shell Jacket, representing the 2016–2026 period in a particularly striking orange colourway inspired by traditional fishermen's coats.

Between the two are eight more pieces that chart some of the more unexpected moments in 66°North's history.

From Icelandic workwear to Björk-approved ’80s outerwear

Highlights include the chunky Bylur Sweater, the long Arnarhóll Coat, the wonderfully dramatic Ægissíða Rain Coat and the blue-and-black Kría Colourblock Shell Jacket, which looks every bit as 90s as you would hope.

The collection also incorporates the Tindur Down Jacket, Þórsmörk Parka and a recreation of the brand's classic Workman beanie.

Perhaps the most interesting piece is the Greni Overall, known in Iceland as the kuldagalli, an insulated all-in-one that became a fixture among Icelandic teenagers in the 1980s, with Björk among its most notable wearers.

For the anniversary collection, it returns with archival KRAFT and 66°N embroidery.

Each piece also gets a specially developed woven label detailing the garment and the decade it represents, reinforcing the sense that this is as much a wearable history lesson as a conventional outdoor collection.

“Reaching 100 years gives us a unique opportunity to look back at the collections, people and ideas that have shaped 66°North,” says Bjarney Harðardóttir, the company's Chief Brand Officer and co-owner.

“The 100-Year Capsule is a celebration of our evolution. Each piece has its own story, but they are all connected by the same purpose that has guided us from the beginning – creating clothing that is made to last.”

The 66°North 100-Year Capsule launches globally on 24 September through the brand's website and selected 66°North stores.

Its Reykjavík, Copenhagen and London flagships will also host a 100-hour anniversary experience from 25–28 September, combining art, sound, scent, taste and touch.

If your outdoor wardrobe is full of Arc’teryx waterproof jackets and The North Face puffers, you might want to check out British expedition brand Shackleton.

It's a good time to do so, too, as the company has just unveiled its AW26 collection, featuring some striking pieces, including the brilliant Signal Yellow version of its polar-proven R-Series down gear.

The new colour appears on the best-selling Rothera Hooded Down Jacket and Ross Down Gilet, giving two of Shackleton’s more technical insulation pieces a considerably louder look.

The R-Series uses 850-fill-power, 90/10 RDS-certified goose down alongside a windproof ripstop outer, with Shackleton saying the jackets are designed to retain body heat in temperatures down to -12°C (10.4°F).

New horizons

The new collection sees Shackleton pushing into several entirely new product categories.

Leading the new arrivals is the Knox Waterproof Down Jacket, the brand's first waterproof insulated transitional jacket.

It combines a soft-feel two-layer waterproof outer rated to 20,000mm hydrostatic head with body-mapped insulation.

Down is used throughout the torso and synthetic insulation in the arms, where Shackleton says moisture and movement can make traditional down less practical.

The jacket also gets a three-way adjustable storm hood that can be stowed away, magnetic front closures, storm cuffs and a C0 DWR treatment.

With a quoted RET breathability rating of 4.32, it should be a lot more breathable than it looks.

Shackleton is also making its first move into technical trousers with the Palmer Softshell Trouser.

Built as a multi-activity piece for hiking and climbing, it uses a wind-resistant four-way stretch fabric, a movement-friendly gusset, C0 DWR and UPF 50+ protection.

According to Shackleton, the Palmer can be paired with a base layer for use down to -20°C (-4ºF), while the trousers are intended to remain comfortable up to 25°C (77ºF) when worn alone.

The Franklin Fleece Jacket and Freemantle Fleece Gilet, two exciting additions to the collection, use a 63% recycled wool blend.

Shackleton says the approach effectively takes fleece back to its original meaning – the coat of a sheep – while avoiding the microplastic shedding associated with many synthetic fleeces.

Both pieces have a cleaner, bomber-style silhouette for both technical/outdoor and everyday use.

The Haakon Tactical Parka, its Antarctica-tested flagship parka, has also been revised for AW26, featuring a three-layer seam-sealed shell and 850-fill-power down. The Pilot Jacket returns in Sage.

The British-made Hero Sweater, inspired by knitwear worn by Sir Ernest Shackleton, returns in new Brown and Brick colours and continues to be made from 100% Geelong lambswool.

The Signal Yellow Rothera Hooded Down Jacket costs £495 / $745 / €680 / AU$990, and the matching Ross Down Gilet is £345 / $520 / €475 / AU$690.

The Franklin Fleece Jacket and Freemantle Fleece Gilet are also available now.

The Knox arrives on 1 October, Palmer and Pilot on 8 October, Hero Sweater on 15 October, and updated Haakon on 29 October.

You can check out the new collection at Shackleton.

Arc’teryx has built its reputation by refining, replacing and occasionally retiring products as its materials and design language evolve.

There are exceptions, though, and apparently being a cult Japanese brand with a 25-year relationship with Arc’teryx helps.

BEAMS has somehow persuaded the Canadian outdoor brand to bring back the Theta AR Jacket, a technical shell originally released in 1998.

The waterproof shell is the centrepiece of a new six-piece anniversary collection celebrating 25 years of collaboration between the two brands and BEAMS’ own 50th anniversary.

The collection is called KOYO, named for Japanese autumn leaves and inspired by their colour palette.

On the Theta AR, that translates to dark brown across the shoulders and hood, transitioning into blocks of bright yellow and BEAMS orange, complete with contrasting zips and gold Arc’teryx and BEAMS embroidery.

It looks gloriously retro, but what makes the jacket particularly interesting is that BEAMS hasn’t simply pulled an old design from the archive and changed the colours.

Past tense, future fabric

According to BEAMS, Arc’teryx is generally known for not reissuing old models, preferring instead to keep developing new products.

For this anniversary, however, BEAMS received special permission to revive the discontinued Theta AR and deliberately went back to its earliest generation for inspiration.

That means details such as the centre storm flap, covered pocket zips and chunky old-school pull tabs return, along with the longer cut and high pockets characteristic of the original design.

It might look old-school, but the Theta AR uses the latest GORE-TEX PRO ePE to bring the shell’s waterproof construction up to date.

The rest of the collection is more than filler, with items like the bright orange Gamma Jacket, the newly developed relaxed-fit Jogen Pants, a Konseal 15 Backpack made from 315-denier Hadron fabric, and a black-and-gold Gamma 5 Panel Cap.

My other favourite might be the white Kragg Cotton LS Shirt, which has six previous anniversary products from the pair’s 25-year partnership printed on its back, effectively turning a heavyweight long-sleeve tee into a miniature Arc’teryx x BEAMS archive.

The Arc’teryx x BEAMS Anniversary Collection launches on 25 September 2026, with BEAMS confirming availability through selected Arc’teryx brand stores in the UK, US, Canada and China, alongside BEAMS Harajuku in Japan.

At ¥187,000 (~£889 / $1,191 / €1,038 / AU$1,677) in Japan, the Theta AR Jacket is knocking on the door of the £1,100 Sperro SV, Arc'teryx's new circular jacket.

Head over BEAMS for more information about the collection.

I have a weakness for technical jackets that look like they’ve been pulled from an obscure outdoor catalogue circa 2002, and the latest iteration of the 66°North Dyngja Shell is pushing virtually every button.

Created with fashion and culture platform Outlander, the limited-edition waterproof jacket forms part of a four-piece capsule celebrating 66°North’s 100th anniversary.

While there’s also a matching pair of shell trousers, T-shirt, and Icelandic wool blanket, it’s the icy white outerwear that immediately caught my attention.

The collaboration draws on 66°North’s early-2000s archive, giving the Dyngja Shell a boxy, structured silhouette while retaining the weather protection you’d expect from an Icelandic outdoor brand.

It’s constructed from a durable three-layer material with a 10,000mm waterproof rating, while reflective piping runs around the jacket, a detail 66°North says originates from designing clothing for Iceland’s dark winters.

Of the two colourways, the darker option takes its inspiration from Iceland’s volcanic soil, but the standout is surely the white and pale-blue version inspired by the Blue Lagoon.

Somewhere north of normal

Look a little closer, and there’s far more going on than the enormous Outlander ‘O’ on the front.

The back features an embroidered map of Iceland, while the graphics also reference 66°North’s history with its early-1990s Kría bird logo.

Outlander artwork is worked throughout, and its signature ‘O’ surrounds the centre of the AquaGuard front zip.

It pulls off the increasingly difficult trick of looking like archive outdoor gear without simply being an old jacket rereleased in a different colour.

The campaign helps, too. 66°North and Outlander took it to Iceland’s Blue Lagoon, with some of the pieces photographed literally floating and half-submerged in the geothermal water.

The cast is made up of Icelandic people and not models, and the photographs were taken by 89-year-old Icelandic photographer Mats Wibe Lund (obviously, I might add).

Behind-the-scenes images were captured by six-year-old Unnur Rajani, the daughter of a 66°North designer (also obviously).

The wider capsule includes matching Dyngja Shell Pants, a heavyweight organic-cotton T-shirt and a 100% Icelandic wool blanket made at 66°North’s factory in Iceland.

The 66°North x Outlander collection launches on 18 September 2026, coinciding with London Fashion Week, and will be available globally from 66°North online as well as its Regent Street, London and Store Regnegade, Copenhagen flagship stores. Price TBC.

There is something particularly convincing about outdoor clothing that looks as though it existed long before you discovered it.

Gramicci’s latest jacket nails that aesthetic without resorting to oversized logos, artificial patches or any of the other usual shortcuts.

The Gramicci x thisisneverthat Washed Wind Jacket is part of the third collaboration between the Californian climbing-inspired brand and cult South Korean streetwear label thisisneverthat.

To my delight, it looks like something you might have spotted halfway down the page of a climbing catalogue in the early 1990s.

That is largely thanks to the navy check fabric, which combines muted blues with thin reddish-brown lines.

The slightly crinkled finish, contrasting light-coloured hood lining and old-school hardware only add to the impression that this thing has somehow survived untouched for the past three decades.

It hasn't, of course. Gramicci and thisisneverthat have deliberately created the effect using a cotton-nylon ripstop fabric that has been pigment dyed and acid washed, producing the slightly faded, worn-in appearance straight from the box.

Old-school looks, proper outdoor DNA

Gramicci can trace its roots back to the Californian climbing scene, while Seoul-based thisisneverthat has built much of its appeal around reworking American outdoor, sportswear and streetwear references through a distinctly Korean lens.

For their third collection together, the brands say they took familiar Gramicci ideas around movement, functionality, and climbing and put them through thisisneverthat's vintage-inspired filter.

The resulting range deliberately occupies the increasingly blurry space between outdoor clothing and city wear, which is exactly where Gramicci thrives.

The Washed Wind Jacket might be one of the clearest examples of that approach because, underneath all the nostalgia, it remains a fairly straightforward piece of functional outerwear.

It has a two-way front zip, elasticated cuffs and hem, a drawcord-adjustable hood and zipped hand pockets, while the cut is described as a regular fit rather than an exaggerated streetwear silhouette.

The wider collection includes Pertex insulated jackets, a reversible fleece vest, patterned knitwear, faded striped T-shirts and denim climbing trousers.

One of my favourite items is a particularly fetching pair of Pertex earflap caps, with all items in the range carrying varying amounts of the same slightly weathered, archive-inspired character.

At a time when technical outdoor clothing increasingly means ultra-clean fabrics and bonded seams, there is something wonderfully refreshing about a jacket designed to look like it has already accompanied someone on a few questionable climbing trips.

The Gramicci x thisisneverthat Washed Wind Jacket is available now from Gramicci UK in Navy, priced at £170 (~£230 / €198 / AU$320), with UK sizes S to XL listed at the time of writing.

The wider collection is also available now, with prices from £50 (~$67 / €58 / AU$94).

After months of reaching for T-shirts, the temperature is finally heading the other way, which means one of my favourite pieces of outdoor clothing is coming back into rotation.

I’ve been testing outdoor gear for nearly a decade, and while the basic idea behind the best fleece jackets hasn’t changed much, the category itself has become surprisingly varied.

You can still buy the thick, fluffy retro-style fleeces many of us picture when we hear the word, but there are also highly breathable grid fleeces for moving fast in the mountains, ultralight active insulation, natural wool alternatives and increasingly sophisticated designs that look just as comfortable in town as they do on the trail.

With that in mind, I’ve picked eight of the jackets and midlayers that stand out to me in 2026, covering everything from technical Polartec to Sasquatch-covered pile.

Patagonia Nano-Air Light Jacket

£230 | Patagonia

Patagonia is one of the biggest names in fleece, so naturally I’ve chosen something that technically isn’t one. The Nano-Air Light swaps conventional fleece for 40g FullRange synthetic insulation, sandwiched between stretchy, air-permeable recycled polyester fabrics.

The idea is to provide enough warmth when you slow down without immediately becoming unbearably hot when you start working hard again. It weighs just 332g, has an articulated cut for freedom of movement and can even stuff into its own chest pocket.

For hiking, scrambling and other stop-start autumn adventures, it’s a fascinating alternative to simply throwing on another fleece.

Peak Performance Freelight AOP Polartec Alpha Half Zip

£160 £80 | Peak Performance

Polartec Alpha was originally developed as active insulation, and the Freelight AOP Half Zip demonstrates why the material has become such an interesting alternative to conventional fleece.

Peak Performance uses an exposed Polartec Alpha Direct knit that provides insulation while staying exceptionally breathable and quick-drying, making it the sort of layer I’d reach for when I know I’m going to generate plenty of heat.

The half-zip lets you dump even more warmth when required, while its unusual all-over pattern gives it considerably more personality than most technical midlayers.

Klättermusen Balderus Jacket

£260 | Klättermusen

Synthetic fleece dominates outdoor clothing, making the new Balderus one of the most interesting jackets on this list. Klättermusen has instead used a dense fleece made from recycled Italian wool, creating a substantial 575g layer designed for cold-weather hiking and mountain use.

Nylon reinforcement is added to exposed areas to improve durability and provide extra wind protection, while the construction retains freedom of movement when climbing or reaching.

This isn't the fleece I’d choose for fast-and-light missions, but when warmth takes priority, the heavyweight wool construction offers something genuinely different from the sea of polyester alternatives.

Mountain Hardwear Polartec Power Grid Full Zip Hoody

$190 (~£140) | Mountain Hardwear

If your idea of a fleece involves mountains rather than coffee shops, Mountain Hardwear’s Polartec Power Grid Full Zip Hoody is probably the most technical option on this list.

The gridded construction is designed to trap warmth while helping moisture move away from the body, which is exactly what I want from a midlayer when I’m hiking hard in cooler weather.

It also has a fitted three-piece hood, thumb holes, stretch panels, and zipped hand and chest pockets, while the relatively slim fit makes it easy to layer under a shell. At 427g, it provides plenty of substance without becoming excessively bulky.

Haglöfs Buteo Mid II Jacket

£70 | Haglöfs

Not every good fleece needs an elaborate fabric technology, unusual construction or premium price tag. The new Haglöfs Buteo Mid II is a refreshingly straightforward full-zip fleece that does exactly what most people need a midlayer to do.

The latest version uses lightweight Polartec Micro Series fleece made from 100% recycled polyester, which is designed to dry quickly, manage moisture and provide warmth without too much weight. At around 300g, it should also disappear easily beneath a waterproof shell.

I particularly like the new Standard Issue Black colourway, which gives the Buteo a clean, uncomplicated appearance that should work pretty much anywhere.

KAVU Teannaway Fleece

£80 | Kavu

Technical outdoor clothing is becoming increasingly serious, which is precisely why I like KAVU’s Teannaway.

This is fleece in its most gloriously old-school form, with 7.5oz fabric, reinforced taffeta elbow panels, a kangaroo-style pass-through pocket and the sort of colourful patterns that make minimalist Scandinavian outdoor clothing look positively miserable.

My pick is the wonderfully named Sasquatch Sighting, which is covered in sunglasses-wearing Bigfoots wandering through the wilderness.

KAVU describes the Teannaway as its bestselling fleece, and it isn't difficult to understand the appeal. It’s warm, uncomplicated and, most importantly, doesn’t take itself remotely seriously.

Montbell CLIMAPLUS Shearling Jacket

£145 | Montbell

Montbell is famous for pursuing its “Light & Fast” philosophy, but the CLIMAPLUS Shearling Jacket demonstrates that the Japanese outdoor specialist isn't afraid of something a little more substantial.

Its thick synthetic CLIMAPLUS fleece has a wool-like texture and is backed by a smooth 40-denier nylon taffeta lining, which helps block wind far more effectively than an ordinary porous fleece.

That construction pushes the weight to 594g, but it also makes the CLIMAPLUS feel more like a proper standalone autumn jacket than a midlayer destined to spend its life underneath a shell.

On Ascent Fleece Jacket

£180 | On

On might still be best known for running shoes, but its increasingly ambitious clothing range has produced one of my favourite-looking fleeces here.

The Ascent Fleece avoids the exaggerated pile and colourful contrast panels normally associated with retro outdoor clothing, instead opting for a restrained design, tonal embroidered logo and subtle reinforced elbow patches.

Underneath the clean appearance is On’s lightweight ThermaTec thermal fabric, while an adjustable hem and elasticated cuffs help keep warmth in. It’s fairly substantial at 530g, so this isn't an ultralight performance piece, but that almost misses the point.

There’s something deeply funny about buying a £115 pair of trainers that already look as though they’ve survived several years of skate sessions, particularly when someone has also gone to the trouble of decorating them with pearls.

Yet that is essentially the proposition behind Vans’ latest Premium Old Skool 36.

It takes the familiar low-top silhouette, gives the upper a deliberately distressed finish, then covers parts of the shoe in pearl and crystal embellishments.

Vans says the idea is to evoke a “well-travelled shoe” that has been reworked and customised over time.

The newest addition to the Premium Old Skool 36 collection is the wonderfully chaotic Yacht Club colourway, which combines green, blue, red and yellow panels with an off-white Sidestripe and matching pearl detailing.

According to Vans, the colour blocking is inspired by sailing flags from around the world and mixes those nautical references with the spirit of 1990s sportswear.

Vans is expanding the range throughout autumn with Lime Pop, Navy, Black/Marshmallow and Red versions, while the relatively restrained Marshmallow model is also returning.

The Pearlized treatment has actually appeared before, including previous Old Skool 36 releases and the sold-out OTW by Vans x Satoshi Nakamoto Pearlized Old Skool.

However, this is now becoming a much broader part of the Vans Premium line.

Style 36 debuted in 1977 as the company's second dedicated skate shoe and, importantly, was the first Vans model to wear the now-iconic Sidestripe.

It was renamed the Old Skool in the early 1990s and has since become one of the brand's defining designs.

The Premium version retains some of the sharper proportions of the original Style 36, including a shorter toe cap, but adds a padded collar, an upgraded footbed, a higher-gloss sidewall, and Sola Foam ADC cushioning.

You still get Vans' vulcanised construction and signature waffle outsole underneath.

The Yacht Club Premium Old Skool 36 Pearlized launches today, 10 September, for £115 in the UK, with Marshmallow also returning today.

In the US, Yacht Club is priced at $130 and also launches on 10 September through Vans and selected Vans stores.

EU and AU prices and availability TBC.

Few puffer jackets are as instantly recognisable as The North Face Nuptse, but the brand has now given its most famous down jacket a considerably more technical makeover.

For AW26, The North Face is taking its iconic puffer back towards those mountaineering roots with the new Summit Nuptse Jacket.

It's a far more technical take on the familiar design, built for climbing and mountaineering rather than commuting.

It still looks unmistakably like a Nuptse, with the oversized down-filled body and contrasting shoulder panel we've come to associate with the jacket.

However, instead of the relatively simple horizontal chambers of the classic Nuptse, the Summit model uses The North Face's Cloud Down technology, featuring an offset baffle construction that gives the down more space to loft while reducing cold spots.

Inside those chambers is 800-fill water-repellent ProDown, which should provide considerably more warmth for its weight at high altitudes.

The unusual-looking baffles aren't completely new territory for The North Face's Summit Series, with the bulkier Himalayan Down Parka using the same CLOUD DOWN construction.

Their appearance on the Nuptse, though, underscores how far this version has moved toward serious alpine use.

A Nuptse built for the mountains again

The yoke, collar and hood use Spectra ripstop, blending recycled nylon with ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethene fibres to improve abrasion resistance in areas likely to take a beating when you're climbing or wearing a pack.

The rest of the outer is made from lightweight 30g/m² recycled nylon, with both fabrics receiving a non-PFC durable water-repellent finish.

It also has an adjustable, climbing-helmet-compatible hood that packs into a zipped collar compartment when you don't need it.

The main Vislon zip works in both directions, letting climbers open the bottom of the jacket while wearing a harness.

The hand pockets sit in positions that make them easier to reach when geared up, and the jacket also has two internal mesh drop-in pockets, an internal hem cinch, FlashDry stretch-knit cuffs and a lightweight stuffsack.

Despite all that insulation, the Summit Nuptse has an average weight of 554g.

The Nuptse was originally developed as serious expedition clothing before gradually becoming one of the defining puffer jackets of streetwear.

With the Summit version, the Nuptse returns to the mountains where it belongs.

The Summit Nuptse Jacket is available now from The North Face UK for £540 in four colours.

It's listed as out of stock in the US, but it appears on the brand's European site for €600. AU price and availability TBC.

Ripstop fabric is usually chosen because it’s tough, lightweight and practical, but Snow Peak’s new KASURI Ripstop collection proves it can look pretty special, too.

Part of the Japanese brand’s Autumn/Winter 2026 range, the new garments consist of a jacket, shirt and trousers made from technical ripstop fabric with an unusual dye treatment that makes the familiar grid pattern much more prominent.

The result looks particularly good in Dark Purple, with a slightly washed, textured appearance that feels much less clinical than the flat colours typically associated with technical nylon.

Snow Peak says the idea is inspired by traditional Japanese kasuri weaving.

The material is dyed using a process that keeps the reinforcement threads from taking up colour the same way as the surrounding fabric.

Those threads therefore remain subtly lighter, allowing the ripstop structure to show through.

It gives the material an almost woven quality from a distance, while retaining the durability you'd expect from ripstop.

Technical clothing without the technical look

The KASURI Ripstop Jacket is probably the most obviously outdoorsy piece in the collection.

It gets a large main storage pocket with smaller compartments layered over it, while a substantial ventilation panel runs across the rear to help release heat when you're moving.

That rear vent carries over to the KASURI Ripstop Shirt, which has a roomy fit designed to accommodate layers underneath.

Snow Peak has also added a side utility pocket, turning what initially looks like a fairly simple overshirt into something much more suited to camping, hiking and travelling.

The KASURI Ripstop Pants continue the same functional approach, with a large main pocket supported by smaller storage compartments and adjustable drawcords at the hems.

Snow Peak's Japanese product information also specifies ventilation around the waist to help heat escape.

The KASURI Ripstop collection is part of Snow Peak's Autumn-Winter 2026 collection and is now available from Snow Peak UK in Dark Purple, Light Blue and Black, in sizes S to XL.

The shirt costs £150, the trousers £145 and the jacket £180.

Black outdoor clothing may look roughly the same, but making it is far less standardised than you might think.

Haglöfs and Polartec are trying to change that with Standard Issue Black, a single shared shade of black designed to reduce unnecessary resource use in producing enormous quantities of almost-identical dark outdoor clothing.

As a proof of concept, Haglöfs has launched the Buteo Mid II Jacket, its first commercially available product made using fabric dyed in Standard Issue Black, alongside a couple of accessories, including scarves and hats.

Outdoor companies produce tens of thousands of black fleece garments every year, but each slightly different shade can require a separate dye batch, chemical mix and minimum order quantity.

Standard Issue Black is pre-dyed at scale and, importantly, Haglöfs and Polartec aren't keeping it to themselves.

It's intended to be openly available to the wider industry, potentially allowing multiple manufacturers to draw from the same standardised material rather than commissioning their own marginally different blacks.

According to an internal production assessment cited by Haglöfs, the approach reduces water use by more than 50% and cuts energy consumption by at least 20% compared with traditional piece-dyed black fabrics.

Those figures are company-supplied rather than independently verified, but they illustrate why something as mundane as agreeing on a shade could have a meaningful impact at scale.

One black to rule them all

Haglöfs introduced the concept earlier this year with its Black Capsule, which combined three shades of leftover black fleece into individual garments to highlight just how similar these supposedly different fabrics can be.

With the Buteo Mid II, Haglöfs says it deliberately chose one of its higher-volume designs for the first Standard Issue Black product.

It has also upgraded the fleece jacket itself, with the new Buteo using lightweight Polartec microfleece made from 100% recycled polyester.

The full-zip jacket is designed to work either as an outer layer or as an insulating midlayer, so aesthetically there isn't anything particularly radical going on here.

By choosing one of its normal, high-volume outdoor garments, the brand made it clear it's not an eco concept piece for a museum display.

Of course, the effort is commendable, but a looming design question hangs over the project: would every outdoor company using exactly the same black make everything look even more alike?

Haglöfs' Head of Design and R&D, Eva Weiss, argues that standardisation doesn't need to restrict creativity, with brands still able to differentiate products through their cuts, other colours and design details while simplifying one particularly resource-heavy part of the process.

Whether other outdoor brands actually adopt Standard Issue Black is the bigger question.

But given how much black fleece the industry produces, this seemingly tiny change could become far more important if enough companies agree to use it.

The Haglöfs Buteo Mid II Jacket in Standard Issue Black is available now at Haglöfs UK and Haglöfs EU for a remarkably low price of £70 / €70 (~$81 / AU$113).

Salomon has given its XT line a fairly dramatic rethink for 2026 with the launch of the new XT-Evo.

The new sneakers feature an entirely new silhouette, and although they keep plenty of familiar technology underneath, they look considerably more futuristic than the XT-4 and XT-6.

The XT-Evo first appeared in early August as part of a collaboration with New York fashion and sneaker retailer/brand Kith.

At the time, Kith described the two limited-edition colourways, which launched alongside its &Kin Fall 2026 collection, as an “all-new” Salomon silhouette.

Those were followed on 2 September by Salomon's own launch, comprising three considerably easier-to-find versions priced at £175 in the UK and $200 in the US.

Same bones, sharper edges

If you've spent any time looking at Salomon's Sportstyle shoes, you'll probably recognise what's underneath all that new bodywork.

The XT-Evo takes the tooling from the hugely popular XT-6 and places an entirely new racing-inspired upper on top.

It combines breathable mesh and liquid rubber, creating a layered, almost skeletal cage that gives the new shoe its distinctive look.

There's still a surprising amount of proper trail-shoe hardware underneath it.

Salomon has equipped the XT-Evo with its Agile Chassis System, which works with an EnergyCell midsole to provide cushioning and stability, plus a deeply lugged Mud Contagrip outsole designed to find purchase on loose and uneven surfaces.

There's also the brand's familiar Quicklace system, SensiFit construction, an internal EndoFit sleeve and a moulded OrthoLite sockliner.

Although Salomon categorises it as a Sportstyle sneaker rather than a current trail-running shoe, those ingredients give the XT-Evo far more outdoor DNA than your average lifestyle trainer.

It weighs 365g per shoe and has a 10mm heel-to-toe drop, so it's not particularly dainty either.

The launch range includes three unisex colourways: Black / Fiery Red / White, which leans into the shoe's racing aesthetic; a quieter Alloy / Castlerock / FTW Silver version; and a stealthy Black / Black / Asphalt option.

All three are available now directly from Salomon UK, Salomon US and Salomon EU for £175 / $200 / €190 (~AU$278).

Peak Performance has been making its distinctive Helium insulation for 15 years, and it’s celebrating the occasion by taking the idea to its logical conclusion.

The new Helium Nova Down Jacket is, according to Peak Performance, the lightest jacket the Swedish brand has ever made, weighing just 390g in the men’s version.

Despite the ultralight construction, it still packs proper down insulation and enough weather protection for more than just strolling around the city.

The Nova takes the familiar Helium formula and gives it a slightly more contemporary silhouette.

The instantly recognisable quilted construction remains, although the baffles now sweep across the jacket in broad waves rather than following the more conventional horizontal pattern found on most down layers.

And while ultralight insulation can sometimes look overtly technical, the relaxed, hip-length fit, raglan sleeves and subtle embroidery make the Nova look pretty relaxed.

That said, the more fashion-friendly exterior hides a fairly serious technical jacket.

Peak Performance uses 700-fill-power duck down with a 90/10 down-to-feather ratio, wrapped inside lightweight 42gsm 20D ripstop fabric.

The outer is windproof and designed to repel light rain and snow, while tougher fabric sections have been added around the shoulders and pockets where wear is likely to be greatest.

Wave after wave

Peak Performance positions the Helium Nova for everything from everyday wear and trail hiking to ski touring, freeride and resort skiing.

It has an adjustable drawcord hidden inside the hem, elasticated cuffs to keep draughts out, a reversed YKK front zip with a chin guard, and two zipped hand pockets.

The relaxed cut should also leave enough room underneath for layering without turning the Nova into an oversized puffer.

There is, however, an interesting difference between the men’s and women’s versions.

The men’s Helium Nova features a hood you can stash away, leaving a simple insulated collar when you don’t need it.

The women’s Helium Nova Hooded Jacket, meanwhile, gets a permanently attached down-insulated hood.

It’s an unusual distinction between the two models, particularly when the rest of the design language is so similar.

As far as I can tell, the Nova isn’t part of Peak Performance’s more experimental Helium Loop circularity project, which uses heat-dissolvable stitching so a jacket can eventually be taken apart and its individual materials recycled.

It does, however, use RDS-certified down and GRS-certified recycled materials, and is made without intentionally added PFAS.

The Helium Nova Down Jacket is available now at Peak Performance UK, Peak Performance US, and Peak Performance EU for £300 / $350 / €350 (~AU$566).

Klättermusen has built its reputation on technical mountain clothing that looks unlike anything else on the trail, and its new Fall/Winter 2026 collection continues that tradition with an interesting material choice.

Wool plays a starring role this season, with two new technical mid-layers designed for the sort of unpredictable conditions Klättermusen encounters on its home turf in Scandinavia.

One of the key models in the FW26 collection is the Balderus Jacket, a hiking-layer made from recycled Italian wool with added wind protection.

The Balderus pairs a natural grey wool body with contrasting dark panels across the chest and shoulders, giving it a distinctly more technical appearance than your average wool midlayer.

Wool remains one of those materials that makes a lot of sense outdoors, particularly as an insulating layer.

However, traditional wool garments are often not the most eye-catching (apart from The North Face's Casentino Collection, but that's a different story).

Klättermusen's approach to adding distinctive panelling and mountain-ready detailing helps the Balderus feel thoroughly modern.

Joining it is the new Embla Hood Jacket, a technical wool-blend mid-layer offering adaptable warmth for changing Scandinavian mountain conditions.

The darker, more understated design looks closer to a conventional technical hoodie, albeit one that should provide an interesting alternative to the synthetic fleeces that dominate most outdoor layering systems.

The long way round

Balderus and Embla are part of a wider collection that Klättermusen says was designed for multi-day trekking across changing terrain and unpredictable weather, with durability, insulation, and freedom of movement as its main priorities.

There are some familiar names elsewhere in the line-up. The Allgrön 2.0 is the latest version of Klättermusen’s four-season waterproof shell, designed to provide prolonged weather protection without restricting movement.

Meanwhile, the Gondul 2.0 Hood Jacket provides lightweight active insulation, balancing warmth with breathability while you’re moving.

Klättermusen has also updated its Gere 3.0 trekking trousers with a lighter construction designed to increase freedom of movement while retaining durability.

The collection arrives alongside The Call, a four-part campaign following three people who abandon their everyday routines after receiving little more than a set of coordinates leading into the mountains.

Both the campaign and Klättermusen’s new FW26 hiking and trekking collection launch on 3 September 2026, with the clothing available at Klättermusen.

Flower Mountain has unveiled its Fall/Winter 2026 collection, and while the brand’s mix of Japanese design, outdoor influences and colourful sneakers is nothing new, a capsule within the range is definitely exciting.

Harmony of Traditions applies three Japanese textile techniques and materials to two of Flower Mountain’s most recognisable models, the Yamano 3 and Iwano 2.

These include Mikawa cotton, a durable woven fabric traditionally produced in Japan’s Aichi Prefecture, alongside Kurashiki canvas, which draws on more than a century of textile-making expertise.

The third element is Sashiko, a social media darling with a distinctive geometric stitching technique originally developed as a practical way to reinforce and repair clothing.

Here, all three are used as functional design details, giving Flower Mountain’s already busy sneakers another layer of texture and character.

Old techniques, new shoes

Flower Mountain has always blurred the line between hiking footwear and everyday sneakers, with suede overlays, chunky soles, unusual lacing systems and bright colour combinations.

Harmony of Traditions simply makes the Japanese side of that equation more... explicit.

The wider FW26 collection continues in a similar direction, albeit with more emphasis on lighter, easier-to-wear footwear.

The Back Country 2 reworks the traditional outdoor shoe with a lighter and more breathable construction.

Meanwhile, two new models, the Sanchia and Ranya, introduce softer and more streamlined shapes designed primarily for everyday urban wear.

Flower Mountain has also revisited several existing trainers, including the Kazana Fall, which turns the woven construction of the summer Kazana into an all-season sneaker.

The Asuka 3 updates the brand’s vintage-inspired design with greater flexibility and a revised internal structure.

Materials across the collection include wool, faux fur and tartan alongside Flower Mountain’s familiar mix of suede, technical fabrics and outdoor-derived detailing.

The Fall/Winter 2026 collection is available now from Flower Mountain UK, Flower Mountain US and Flower Mountain EU. AU availability TBC.

There are certain pieces of outdoor equipment that, in 2026, have long since escaped their original purpose.

Hiking shoes are everyday footwear, climbing trousers are worn nowhere near a crag, and waterproof shells have become a familiar sight in fashion.

That makes Norwegian travel-gear specialist Db’s latest collaboration with British outdoor label Purple Mountain Observatory rather well timed.

Gone Fishing was created after the two brands approached fly fishing as relative outsiders, questioning some of the sport’s established equipment along the way.

The result brings together apparel and luggage, with Db describing the collection as a modular system designed to move between different environments.

And while there’s plenty here for people who actually own fishing equipment, the Db x PMO Modular Vest is easily my favourite piece.

Fishing optional

The Modular Vest is essentially a highly technical reinterpretation of traditional fly-fishing gear.

It's made of ALUULA composite fabric, a material Db previously used across its ultra-light Weigh Lighter collection, which focused on combining low weight with high strength and durability.

In fact, ALUULA Graflyte, an ultra-light, high-strength composite originally developed for technical packs, is one of the collection’s key technologies.

It combines a UHMWPE core with fused protective films for improved abrasion, water and puncture resistance.

It has seven flapped pockets with quick-pull tabs, integrated tool loops, and Velcro fly patches, plus a removable high-capacity compartment around the back.

A second zipped rear pocket keeps valuables secure, while a D-ring lets anglers attach a landing net.

All very practical, admittedly, but I think it works just as well as an oversized technical layer.

The translucent white ALUULA pockets against the black body give it an almost experimental look, and paired with loose trousers, a simple long-sleeve top and the right trainers, I could easily see it working nowhere near water.

The rest of Gone Fishing follows a similar theme, with a £300 oversized Sling Bag (my other favourite), a £250 25-litre Backpack and a £70 Tech Cap, alongside a special £549 Ramverk Pro Carry-on.

The latter largely retains Db’s familiar aluminium-framed polycarbonate construction but adds exclusive purple compression straps and collaborative branding – a subtle detail that looks particularly good against the silver shell. Db

Gone Fishing officially launched on 27 August through Db and PMO’s online stores and selected retailers globally.

When Katie Becker first saw Arc’teryx at a trade show in 1998, the brand stood out because it was doing almost everything differently.

At the time, snowboard and outdoor clothing was dominated by bright colours, oversized fits and bold graphics. Arc’teryx had taken a different approach.

Sitting on a pedestal was a simple, one-colour jacket that looked almost out of place among everything around it. It was the Alpha jacket, and what caught Becker’s attention was not just the appearance, but the thinking behind it.

The jacket featured waterproof zippers, a new approach to Gore-Tex construction, and a three-dimensional design inspired by the way climbers move. Even then, Arc’teryx had looked at the problems with existing products and tried to solve them from the ground up.

Almost three decades later, Becker, now Chief Creative Officer at Arc’teryx, sees that same mindset behind System 0, the brand’s attempt to tackle one of the most difficult problems facing the outdoor industry: how to create high-performance equipment while reducing the amount of waste created throughout a product’s life.

System 0 is not a single jacket, material or technology. Instead, it is a broader approach that brings together product design, manufacturing, repair, and end-of-life solutions, aiming to create products that last longer, are easier to repair, and, eventually, easier to recycle.

As Kyle Wood, Arc’teryx VP of Strategy, explained during the System 0 presentation, circularity is a highly complex, systemic problem, and it won’t be solved with a single product or strategy overnight.

For Arc’teryx, the project extends what the company has always tried to do: solve difficult problems with real consequences.

Starting with the hardest problem

Arc’teryx’s approach to product development has always been based around a few simple filters. Is the product authentic to the brand, does it solve a genuine problem, is it beautiful, and does it meet the company’s standards around responsibility?

That final point has become increasingly important as the brand has looked at what responsibility means beyond simply making durable products.

“We have people that love our product that have been wearing the same jacket for 12 years, 15 years,” said Becker. “And we really started to look at what does responsibility really mean? How do we build it to repair it? What are we doing about end of life?”

That thinking eventually led to System 0, a four-year project exploring how Arc’teryx could approach circularity in a way that matched its existing standards.

The team quickly realised that creating a circular product couldn't mean simply making a jacket with different materials. It required a wider system around the product, including repair services, manufacturing changes and a way to recover materials when the jacket eventually reached the end of its useful life.

Alex Plante, Arc’teryx’s VP of Advanced Concepts, explains that the team wanted to avoid treating circularity as a separate sustainability project.

“We knew that circularity wasn’t going to be about a product alone,” she said. “We knew that a product needed to be created, because that’s what we make, but it needed to be a product that was a proof point for a new system that we wanted to drive forward.”

The team could have started with a simpler product category, but that would not have been the Arc’teryx way. “We don’t start with easy problems,” said Plante. “Hard problems are generally the most rewarding.”

The chosen product was a waterproof jacket, one of the most technically demanding categories in outdoor clothing. A shell has to protect users from rain and snow, allow freedom of movement, work with climbing equipment, and remain durable after years of use.

And, as Arc’teryx found out, it also happens to be one of the hardest products to make circular.

Learning from products that came back

One of the biggest advantages Arc’teryx had when developing System 0 was ReBIRD, the brand’s repair programme. It gives customers the option to repair damaged equipment rather than replace it, but it also gives Arc’teryx something equally valuable: information.

Because returned products come back through the company’s Vancouver facility, designers can examine where products fail, which components wear out, and what customers need from their equipment after years of use.

“We were able to learn and understand how people use our hardshells,” said Plante. “We were able to learn what breaks first, what people loved about them, so that we could design out failure points right from the very beginning.”

The first version of the jacket pushed the idea of recyclability much further than the final product. One early prototype removed zippers completely because zippers are one of the biggest challenges in recycling garments.

However, when Arc’teryx tested that design with athletes and professional users, the response was clear: it was not practical. “It was sustainable, but it didn’t make sense,” explained Becker.

The jacket became easier to recycle, but it lost the functionality that made Arc’teryx products useful in the first place. That became one of the key lessons of System 0: circularity could not come at the expense of performance.

No compromises on performance

For Andrew Yip, Senior Director of Materials in Advanced Concepts at Arc’teryx, the biggest challenge was creating a jacket that could use more recyclable materials while still meeting the same performance standards customers expect.

“The common theme, especially from the beginning, was an uncompromising approach,” said Yip. “We knew that we wouldn’t be able to create something that we weren’t proud of, and that meant not sacrificing performance in any way.”

The project involved working with several industry partners, including Aquafil, GORE and Toray, to create a new three-layer laminate using post-consumer waste.

Aquafil supplies the recycled nylon used in the jacket, produced through chemical recycling. Unlike mechanical recycling, which melts materials down and can reduce their quality over time, chemical recycling breaks nylon back down into its original components before creating new material.

Yip compares the process to ice cream. “If you’ve ever had ice cream melt and refrozen it in your freezer and tried to eat it again, you know that ice cream doesn’t taste or feel the same,” he explained. “That’s mechanical recycling.”

Chemical recycling works differently because it breaks the material down further, allowing it to be rebuilt with performance closer to the original material. The jacket isn't made from a single material, though, because the company found that a completely mono-material approach would require too many compromises.

“We knew that really wasn’t an option for us because of our standards in performance and durability,” said Yip.

Some components, including zippers and reflectors, still need separate handling at the end of life. The important change is that Arc’teryx has designed the jacket so those parts can be removed and processed as efficiently as possible.

Even small details were considered. The black zipper teeth, for example, were chosen because changing colours during manufacturing creates additional waste.

Designing a product people want to return

One of the hardest parts of creating a circular system isn't just recycling materials, but collecting and sorting products when people no longer want them.

This is where Arc’teryx believes ReBIRD gives it an advantage. “The idea is that we’re building the garment that people want to bring back to us,” said Yip. “They want to bring it back to us because they want to keep it, and they want to repair it, and they want to use it as long as they can.”

Eventually, when a product can no longer be repaired, Arc’teryx wants to use that existing repair network to identify when it is ready to be recycled. This is a crucial part of System 0 because collecting and sorting old textiles is one of the biggest challenges in creating a circular clothing system.

Testing beyond the laboratory

Given Arc’teryx’s history, it is perhaps unsurprising that System 0 involved extensive testing, including placing jackets in a cement mixer with gravel to simulate abrasion, then checking whether they remained waterproof.

Another test looked at contamination from human oils, which can eventually affect the bond between a waterproof membrane and the outer fabric. These tests were designed to understand how long it could realistically remain functional.

The final product was also tested by professional users, including search and rescue teams, who helped shape the design. Their feedback sometimes meant choosing function over recyclability. More pockets, for example, were necessary because rescue teams need space for medical equipment and additional supplies.

The beginning of a bigger project

Arc’teryx sees the Sperro SV as a starting point, with lessons that can eventually influence more product categories and services. “This is really the beginning of our journey,” said Plante.

The ambition is not simply to create more sustainable products, but to change how people think about their relationship with equipment. “We’re really looking to change the way that people think about their products from a customer or consumer to a custodian of a product,” she said.

System 0 aims to keep those products in use as long as possible while reducing the impact created along the way. It is a complicated problem, and Arc’teryx is clear that this jacket will not solve it alone. But that has always been the company’s approach to innovation: start with the hardest problem, test relentlessly, learn from failure and keep looking for a better way.

On has made plenty of running shoes designed to help you move faster, but its latest collaboration with FKA twigs is focused on what happens after the finish line.

The Swiss brand and the artist have unveiled their Fall/Winter 2026 collection, headlined by the new Cloudmonster 3 Mule, which happens to be On’s first-ever mule silhouette.

The slip-on takes inspiration from the Cloudmonster family, bringing the brand’s distinctive oversized cushioning aesthetic into a recovery-focused shoe designed for slower moments.

It features a triple-layer CloudTec construction, Helion superfoam midsole and Speedboard technology.

The unique footwear also combines the soft cushioning expected from an off-duty shoe with the energetic feel synonymous with On’s footwear.

The result is a surprisingly technical take on the humble mule, built around the idea that recovery is part of movement, not an absence of it.

Available in two earth-inspired colourways, including Cacao/Espresso and Loess/Hare, the design swaps traditional laces for a hook-and-loop strap system, with a plush terry lining adding a more relaxed feel.

The upper features subtle branding and a sculptural shape that feels closer to a fashion sneaker than a conventional recovery clog (it certainly looks more sophisticated than your average Crocs).

The collection continues the creative partnership between On and FKA twigs, which has previously explored the relationship between training, movement and self-expression.

For the launch campaign, FKA twigs directed a series of images shot by photographer Sharna Osborne, inspired by the aesthetics of 90s VHS footage and portraying restorative movement through sculptural poses.

Alongside the Cloudmonster 3 Mule, the collection includes relaxed apparel pieces such as the Club Collective Full Zip Hoodie, Club Collective Pants and Studio Bodysuit, all designed around softer textures and post-performance comfort.

The On x FKA twigs Fall/Winter 2026 collection launches on 27 August 2026 through On’s website and selected retailers.

The Cloudmonster 3 Mule will cost £170 / $180 / €190 / AU$280 at On UK, On US, On EU and On AU.

When heading off to university, the obvious bag choices usually involve laptop compartments, canvas totes or whatever happens to be trending on campus.

But The North Face’s Base Camp Dry Bag makes a surprisingly strong case for something a little different.

Shop all The North Face Back to School backpacks

Originally designed for outdoor adventures, the 18-litre dry bag could easily become a student’s everyday companion.

It is compact enough to carry books, gym kit, and daily essentials, yet tough enough to handle everything from rainy commutes to weekend escapes.

It combines the rugged appeal of The North Face’s famous outdoor gear with a price that won’t make a student loan disappear.

The 18-litre version costs £60, while the smaller 12-litre model drops the price even further to just £47.

For that money, you get a bag made from 300D recycled polyester with a TPU coating and non-PFC durable water-repellent finish, alongside an IPX7 waterproof rating.

In practical terms, that means unexpected downpours, muddy trails and accidental puddle encounters are far less of a concern.

The roll-top design helps keep contents protected, while the reinforced base adds durability where cheaper everyday bags often start to fail.

There is also a Hypalon collar for easier rolling, daisy chain webbing for attaching extra gear and a removable padded shoulder strap for more comfortable carrying.

Available in The North Face’s distinctive outdoor-inspired colourways, it looks more adventurous than the sea of generic backpacks found on university campuses.

It is the sort of bag that works equally well heading to lectures, cycling across town or disappearing for a weekend camping trip.

While many back-to-school purchases are designed to last a year or two, this gear could stick around much longer.

A waterproof, hard-wearing bag from a brand with The North Face’s outdoor heritage for £47 is a rare combination, making the Base Camp Dry Bag one of the more interesting alternatives for students heading back to campus.

It’s been a long, hot, dry summer, but we all know what that means… The clouds are already gathering on the horizon, and you don’t have to be Bob Dylan to realise a hard rain’s a‐gonna fall, very soon. And once it starts, well, you don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.

So, as autumn approaches, are you ready? And by ready, I mean: do you have a decent, dependable waterproof jacket hanging somewhere within arm’s reach? If not, and you plan to spend any time outdoors doing things like hill walking and trail meandering, it’s time to get prepared.

Peak Performance is a Swedish brand created by a couple of elite skiers who know a thing or two about outdoor activities in challenging environments.

The Ridge Hipe Ace Jacket is a three-layer, breathable, windproof, waterproof hardshell outer jacket designed to make adventures on the wild side more comfortable and enjoyable in all kinds of conditions. Does it succeed? I’ve been testing the Ridge for months to find out.

Peak Performance Ridge Hipe Ace Jacket review

Price and availability

Available in just one colourway – cliff edge (a kind of greeny brown) and major brown for men; cliff edge and plum truffle for women – the Ridge Ace Hipe jacket sits in the middle of the Peak Performance range and will cost you around £350 in Britain, close to $400 in the United States and near enough €500 across the European Union.

Design and materials

Designed in Åre, northern Sweden (and made in Vietnam), like all Peak Performance apparel, the Ridge outer shell jacket is constructed primarily from 40D lightweight ripstop polyester, backed by a soft tricote layer, with Hipe Ace membrane technology doing the clever stuff to keep biting winds and wet weather at bay while letting internally generated moisture out.

It has an adjustable hood with a reasonably rigid laminated brim, a long back panel, a hem that can be tightened with toggles, Velcro straps at the wrist, and three pockets: two large zippered pouches on the outside and a mesh pocket on the inside.

While it has a full-length two-way YKK AquaGuard zipper on the front, it has no pit zips or underarm ventilation.

Specifications

• RRP: £350 (UK) / $399 (US) / €499.95 (EU)
• Gender availability: Male and female versions available
• Materials: 40D lightweight ripstop polyester with a soft tricote backer and Hipe Ace technology
• Waterproofness: HH 20,000mm
• Breathability: 20,000 g/m2/24h
• Weight: Men’s 446g; Women’s: 402g
• Colours: Men’s: Cliff edge & major brown; Women’s: Cliff edge & plum truffle
• Sizes (UK): Men’s: S–2XL; Women’s: XS–XL
• Best for: Trail walking, hill hiking, scrambling, backpacking

Performance

I have been trialling the Ridge jacket on trails since spring, wearing it on adventures ranging from walking the dog along the occasionally rain-streaked South West Coast to camping and hill hiking in the Highlands of Scotland.

If I didn’t know better, I’d say the weather gods are a bit afraid of this jacket, since they have avoided throwing anything too soggy at it for most of the test period, but I have been out and about in my fair share of showers and downpours while wearing it. And I can confidently say that it works. It keeps the wind and rainwater out brilliantly.

This jacket has a pretty relaxed fit, so you can easily wear a base layer and a chunkier midlayer – such as a fleece or a puffer jacket – underneath during colder conditions, but the soft tricot backer means the material is comfortable next to your skin if you choose to simply wear a T-shirt underneath.

The hood, which features an embedded RECCO Rescue System reflector (to help emergency service searchers locate you if things go belly up in the wilderness), can be pulled tight in adverse conditions for maximum protection. It also boasts a proper peak, not some flimsy thing, and this directs rainwater and snow away from your eyes.

With a single Velcro strip, the cuffs fasten securely around gloves, and while there’s no dedicated snow skirt, the long back panel and adjustable hem keep breezes out.

I really love the little touches on this jacket that contribute so much to its overall comfiness, such as the soft-touch material that surrounds the chin guard.

Plenty of other jackets have a zip garage, so you don’t catch your chin skin or beard in the zipper (never a nice experience), but I’ve never come across a jacket with such a generous amount of velvet-soft material to shield the lower face from rubbing. When conditions are hard you have your jacket zipped right up, this makes a big difference.

The pockets on this jacket are nice and large, so you can fit everything in them from smartphones and other devices through to old-fashioned maps. The zips on the two outer pockets are excellent quality (YKK), and there’s also an interior pocket to keep things protected from the elements.

One downside is that the shoulders don’t appear to be reinforced with any additional protection, so wearing a backpack might damage the material in this area as the harness rubs against it. That said, few jackets offer this level of protection.

A bigger complaint from me is that there are no pit zips. On test, I found that the Hipe Ace technology worked just as well as a waterproof barrier as better-known systems, such as Gore-Tex. However, all of these membrane-based systems work on an evaporative basis that is only truly breathable when conditions are right and relatively dry (like in the Alps and the Rockies in the US).

In the more wet and humid conditions we experience here in the UK, they perform less well, and despite the impressive figures produced by lab tests, you will still get hot and sweaty and experience the build-up of moisture on the inside of synthetic jackets, especially if you are doing something dynamic, like hiking up a hill, clambering up a steep peak approach or cross-country skiing… unless, that is, they are very well vented.

The Ridge does feature a two-way main zip, so you can open it from the top or bottom (or both), which helps you dump excess heat when necessary. But, in my opinion, pit zips are by far the best way to resolve temperature regulation and moisture problems, not least because you can have them undone in the rain while you’re hiking or climbing, and rain still won’t get in.

Verdict

Overall, the Ridge Hipe Ace outer shell from Peak Performance is a great jacket, which provides good protection, looks and feels good, and has quality features. I would like to see it available in a few more colours – while it’s a nice natural hue, brown and another shade of brown don’t excite everyone – but on a more functional level, the main thing the coat is missing is pit zips. In my opinion, the very best waterproof jackets need pit zips, and this is a hill I’ll die on (probably because I’ve overheated and got mad about the lack of underarm ventilation).

Also consider

For a top-notch waterproof shell that does have pit zips, and offers sensational protection against even the angriest of elements when you're doing some proper adventuring, the Makalu Jacket from Mountain Equipment is hard to beat.

Alternatively, if you’re counting grams, the Montane Phase Lite is a super lightweight shell jacket, tipping the scales at just 300g, which still offers excellent waterproof performance (HH 28,000mm).

For a more budget friendly option, which will still keep you dry and fend off windchill, the Jack Wolfskin Eagle Peak jacket is well worth a look, and you can often find it for under £100.

Peak Design makes excellent functional gear, including camera and travel bags, but with its latest collection, the San Francisco-based brand is moving into a different territory altogether.

The new City Line is Peak Design’s attempt to rethink the everyday bag, with six new models built around lighter construction, simpler organisation and considerably cleaner styling.

According to the company, the idea behind City Line was to question whether an everyday bag really needs more features, or whether every feature would be better off earning its place.

The resulting collection includes the City Backpack in 15L and 22L sizes, the City Tote 15L, City Sling 2L and the two City Crescent sizes.

Less bag, more city

The Crescent is arguably the clearest expression of that new approach.

My highlight of the collection, the City Crescent is a relaxed, curved crossbody option that feels much closer to a contemporary fashion accessory than the structured tech bags.

Peak Design says its ergonomic shape is designed to distribute weight naturally across your body, while the soft, flexible construction should make it comfortable for walking, commuting and generally spending all day moving around a city.

There's quick-access pocketing and the company's deployable BagLev hook system, while the outer is constructed from its new weather-resistant 660D MonoShell fabric.

That MonoShell material is used throughout City Line alongside seam-reduced patterning, helping reduce weight while creating the much smoother exterior that distinguishes the range from Peak Design's more technical-looking bags.

The smaller City Sling is the cleaned-up (and smaller) version of the Travel Crossbody 3L, which recently made me rethink crossbody bags.

The City Backpack is probably the most straightforward option in the collection, drawing on lessons from the company's travel bag line, including the Travel Backpack 45L and others.

Perhaps more surprisingly, Peak Design is having some fun with colour.

Alongside understated options are considerably more expressive finishes, including a vibrant Lapis blue, which feels like new territory for a company whose bags have traditionally leaned towards relatively restrained tones.

The City Line launched the collection on 4 August, and it's available now at Peak Design UK, Peak Design US, Peak Design EU and Peak Design AU. Prices from £60 / $70 / €70 / AU$140.

Pas Normal Studios has unveiled its Autumn/Winter 2026 Off-Race collection, expanding the Copenhagen cycling label’s off-bike range into what it describes as a complete wardrobe system.

That might sound like an ambitious claim for a company best known for making some of the most fashionable cycling kit around, but the new collection makes a convincing case.

For the range, Pas Normal Studios transformed its technical gear into everyday clothing, with shells, insulation, knitwear, shirts and trousers designed for commuting, travelling and just generally existing away from your bike.

The AW26 collection sits somewhere between Scandinavian minimalism, technical outdoor clothing and contemporary streetwear, with relaxed proportions and muted colours preventing the more performance-focused elements from looking overly sporty.

As well as hero pieces such as the Off-Race Down Liner Jacket and Off-Race Tech Corduroy Pants. Pas Normal has also introduced new merino knitwear, boiled wool pieces and styles made using Japanese seersucker.

Cycling clothes without the cycling clothes

Creative Director and co-founder Karl-Oskar Olsen says details that become second nature when riding have been deliberately transferred into everyday clothing, pointing to things such as secure zipped rear pockets and two-way jacket zips that allow heat to escape.

The collection has been designed around layering, with lightweight shirts that can work as mid-layers and merino and boiled wool providing insulation.

The Down Liner Jacket can be combined with outerwear as temperatures drop, while reflective branding and practical storage appear throughout the range.

The fleece and wide corduroy trousers make an especially strong combination, while the oversized outerwear and cropped down jackets could easily sit alongside pieces from fashion-conscious outdoor labels rather than traditional cycling brands.

Colours remain characteristically restrained: Black, Steel, Dark Coffee and Dark Navy form the base of the collection, joined by earthy shades including Deep Olive, Wood and Sandstone, with brighter Dark Lime and Ochre used as accents.

The Pas Normal Studios AW26 Off-Race collection launches today, 13 August, through the brand’s website, Pas Normal Studios stores and selected retailers. Prices from €12 (~£10 / $14 / AU$20).

Canada Goose might be synonymous with enormous down-filled parkas and other outerwear pieces built for genuinely hostile weather, but one of the most interesting pieces from its newly arriving Fall/Winter 2026 collection takes things in a very different direction.

The Scout Coat is a new style that leans into heritage workwear aesthetics, with a design that borrows heavily from an archival piece.

The jacket comes in two colours, Arabica Brown and Vireo Green, and combines a removable shearling collar with a water-repellent finish.

The four-pocket front, generous cut and contrasting dark shearling collar give it the feel of an old field or hunting jacket, albeit one that has been cleaned up considerably for a modern luxury wardrobe.

Heritage workwear has become increasingly popular in recent years, pushing gorpcore further out with contemporary menswear options such as chore coats, barn jackets and other utilitarian silhouettes.

In keeping with the trend of people looking for highly functional clothing, most modern workwear-inspired pieces can also function as heavy-duty apparel, albeit with a more fashionable twist.

The Scout taps into this aesthetic without looking too out of place for a brand that historically wasn't the biggest manufacturer of this type of workwear options.

Its military and outdoorsy influences are hardly new, which is why the design has considerably more staying power than your average seasonal statement piece.

Not everything needs to survive the Arctic

The Scout isn't the only new arrival, suggesting Canada Goose is having a little fun with its AW26 wardrobe.

At almost the opposite end of the spectrum is the Habel Knit Crew, a wonderfully bright pink cable-knit jumper that stands out immediately among the brand's considerably more subdued outerwear.

Officially finished in Linnaea Rose, the crew is described by Canada Goose as a more sculptural interpretation of a timeless knit, designed to add extra dimension and lightness to the familiar shape. It's also marked as a new style for the season.

It's certainly not the Canada Goose most people picture when they hear the name, and that's exactly why I like it.

The brand's AW26 rollout still contains plenty of the technical fleeces, insulated jackets and parkas you'd expect, but pieces such as the Scout Coat and Habel Knit Crew hint at a broader wardrobe beyond expedition-ready outerwear.

Personally, I'd take the Scout. It has enough Canada Goose practicality to make sense, but looks more like the sort of jacket you'll still want to wear long after this season's trends have moved on.

The Scout Coat is available now at Canada Goose UK, Canada Goose US and Canada Goose EU for the recommended price of £1,550 / $1,750 / €1,775 (~AU$2,961).

Montbell’s Closeout sale is currently offering up to 30% off selected outdoor gear, and one of the more tempting reductions is on the Superior Down Parka. The jacket has dropped from £212 in the striking Red colourway, which not only looks great but also makes you much more visible in an emergency.

Shop Montbell's up to 30% off Closeout sale

The Superior Down Parka is built as a lightweight cold-weather layer and weighs just 243g. It uses 800-fill-power EX Down, Montbell’s premium down insulation, giving it a strong warmth-to-weight ratio for hiking, travelling and everyday wear.

Montbell surrounds the insulation with a 10-denier Ballistic Airlight nylon ripstop shell, complete with a water-repellent finish. The sewn-through construction helps keep weight down and holds the insulation in place, while the fabric is also downproofed to reduce feathers escaping through the outer.

The adjustable dual-axial hood is designed to move with your head without restricting visibility, while elasticated cuffs and an adjustable hem help trap warmth.

Storage comes from two zipped hand pockets and a pair of internal drop-in pockets, and Montbell even includes a stuff sack for packing the jacket down when it isn’t needed.

It’s worth noting that the Superior Down Parka has a relatively slim cut, partly because it’s designed to work as a mid-layer underneath a waterproof shell. Montbell recommends sizing up if you prefer a more relaxed fit.

At £53 off, it’s a useful opportunity to pick up a genuinely lightweight 800-fill down jacket for less, provided red works with your wardrobe.

66ºNorth has unveiled its Autumn/Winter 2026 collection, and if you like your outdoor clothing to look equally at home on a windswept Icelandic coastline and the streets of London, there’s plenty here to get excited about.

Layers of Everyday Life arrives during the Icelandic brand’s centenary year and digs heavily into the archive, taking garments originally designed for fishermen, mountaineers and unforgiving North Atlantic weather and reworking them for everyday use.

Judging by the campaign imagery, that doesn’t mean sanding away the technical character.

Dominating the collection are oversized down jackets, substantial waterproof shells, fleece jackets, wool and exaggerated collars.

The clothing still looks distinctly functional, but proportions, layering and materials give it the kind of fashion credibility that means you don’t necessarily need a mountain anywhere nearby to justify wearing it.

From Everest to everyday life

Among the AW26 highlights is the returning Dyngja Down family, based on one of 66ºNorth’s bestselling down coats from the early 2000s.

It has been reinterpreted using recycled insulation and will be available across bomber, jacket and coat silhouettes.

The campaign's chunky puffers are arguably some of my favourite and the strongest-looking pieces in the entire collection.

One of the new puffers, the Tindur Down Jacket, has serious mountaineering history behind it.

The original was developed for the first Icelander to climb Everest from its north side, but AW26 introduces a new cropped interpretation inspired by 66ºNorth’s recent District Vision collaboration.

The Tindur Shearling takes things in another direction, using Polartec to create a technical mid-layer combining warmth and freedom of movement, while giving the collection another useful hit of texture.

The Hofsjökull Bomber also looks amazing with its oversized hood, especially in the Lifesaver orange colourway.

The archive-inspired Dyngja Shell, first introduced for AW25, returns alongside the Hornstrandir GORE-TEX Pro, which sits at the technical end of 66ºNorth’s range.

There are some entirely new pieces as well, including the Kaldi, which comes as both an oversized bomber and a bomber-parka hybrid, joined by a relaxed Kaldi Half-Zip interpretation of the traditional Icelandic wool sweater.

Finally, the Hofsjökull Coat updates one of the brand’s signature parkas with GORE-TEX Windstopper for extra protection against Iceland's notoriously unpleasant weather.

Archive-print T-shirts featuring fishing boats, Icelandic landscapes and workwear graphics provide the finishing touches.

The collection is available now at 66ºNorth with prices from £20 / $25 / €20 (~AU$33).

Fresh off its Experience Wild 3+ collab with Altra, Japanese outdoor brand and wander has revealed its Autumn/Winter 2026 collection, and anyone who likes their hiking kit with a sizeable helping of fashion should probably pay attention.

The Tokyo-based label has always occupied an interesting space between genuine outdoor equipment and Japanese fashion, but AW26 pushes the combination particularly hard.

The new lookbook jumps from PERTEX SHIELD waterproofs and Dyneema backpacks to shaggy knits, quilted skirts and dramatically wide trousers without any of it feeling particularly out of place.

There are plenty of recognisable and wander staples among the more technical looks, including the PERTEX SHIELD Rain Jacket, 2.5-layer hiking shells, 3-layer rain trousers, ECOPAK backpacks and the brand's Waterproof Trek Shoes Low.

Dyneema, one of the most popular materials in the outdoor industry right now, is making an appearance in the UltraWeave 23L ultralight pack.

Continuing the theme of eye-catching but highly functional gear, the PERTEX SHIELD jacket has a three-layer construction that combines 40-denier nylon with a non-porous polyurethane membrane and nylon tricot backing.

It has a quoted 20,000mm waterproof rating and 20,000g/m²/24h breathability, with underarm ventilation and reflective detailing reinforcing its mountain credentials.

Rain gaiters have never looked this good

One of the most interesting pieces is much simpler: the Rain Long Gaiter.

and wander positions the gaiter as an alternative way of building a waterproof lower-body system, particularly when paired with its Rain Wrap Skirt.

The gaiters extend above the knee to help protect the lower legs from rain, wet vegetation and cold, while also being easier to remove than a conventional pair of waterproof trousers.

AW26 combines the gaiters with oversized hiking trousers, technical vests and waterproof shoes, creating an almost futuristic silhouette from something primarily designed to stop your legs getting soaked.

Then there are the Printed Satin Pants (see at the top), perhaps the collection's biggest departure from conventional outdoor clothing.

The voluminous unisex trousers use a soft cotton-rayon satin with an original all-over print, integrated webbing waist belt and drawcord-adjustable hems.

They have the relaxed proportions you'd expect from fashion-led trousers, but there are still little reminders that this is and wander.

The brown version's fiery, almost camouflage-like print is particularly striking, especially when AW26 pairs it with more restrained fleece and outerwear.

I'm also rather taken with the Reversible Boa Jacket, which combines a fuzzy patterned exterior with contrasting technical-looking panels and an oversized shape.

The collection moves further into traditional winter clothing elsewhere, including shaggy wool jackets, yak wool cardigans, down pieces, moleskin trousers and quilted layers.

Proper rain shells, performance packs and waterproof accessories sit alongside satin, wool, fleece and oversized tailoring as parts of the same wardrobe.

It's strange, functional and occasionally flamboyant, and exactly the sort of outdoor clothing that could make you want to wear your hiking gear even when you're nowhere near a mountain.

The collection is available now in Japan at mix.tokyo, with prices from ¥18,300 (~£85 / $115 / €99 / AU$163).

Patagonia’s Fall 2026 collection keeps revealing some surprisingly substantial updates.

Following the arrival of its new waterproof packs and other seasonal gear, the outdoor brand has now overhauled parts of its popular Nano-Air insulation family, including a redesigned Nano-Air Light platform and several entirely new, more lifestyle-oriented jackets.

The biggest technical change is the updated Nano-Air Light, which now uses 40g FullRange insulation made from 100% recycled polyester.

Patagonia describes it as exceptionally air permeable, with enough stretch to move naturally during high-output activities such as climbing, hiking and ski touring.

The shell and lining are also made from recycled polyester ripstop, with an air-permeable construction designed to let heat escape rather than trapping it inside.

A PFAS-free DWR treatment adds resistance against light moisture.

The new Nano-Air Light Jacket comes in men's and women's versions and weighs 332g and 281g respectively.

Both have articulated patterning, low-profile quilting and three zipped pockets, while the jacket can stuff into its chest pocket when not required.

There’s also an updated Nano-Air Light Hoody, adding a stretchy low-profile hood and a second chest pocket. The women's version weighs 323g, while the men's comes in at 371g.

The Nano-Air Light Vest has been updated too, with the new men's version moving to a regular fit and weighing just 213g. The corresponding women's model tips the scales at 195g.

From alpine insulation to everyday outerwear

Perhaps more interestingly, Patagonia is also using Nano-Air technology outside its traditional technical-mountain setting.

The new Nano-Air Bomber Jacket wraps 60g FullRange insulation inside a conventional bomber silhouette, complete with an insulated collar, elastic cuffs and adjustable hem.

There’s also a Nano-Air Shirt Jacket, essentially an insulated overshirt with a snap front, zipped hand pockets and 60g FullRange filling, while the women's range adds a cropped Snap Hoody, relaxed Bomber Jacket and thigh-length Long Hoody.

All use the same breathable recycled ripstop fabric and 60g FullRange insulation.

While Patagonia is still targeting climbers and fast-moving mountain users with Nano-Air Light, but the bomber and shirt-jacket designs suggest it also wants its active insulation to work as everyday outerwear.

In the US, the Nano-Air Light Vest starts at $199, the Light Jacket costs $259, and the Light Hoody is $299.

In the UK, the new Light Hoody is listed at £280, while some of the other Fall 2026 pieces appear to be reaching the UK site gradually.

A scientific discovery has created clothing that is able to heal. The breakthrough comes from researchers in China, who have developed a textile that keeps the fungal cells alive rather than killing them during manufacturing.

Most existing mycelium-based materials use dead fungal matter, but this new approach allows the material to retain some of the properties of a living organism.

The fabric is made from pellets of Cordyceps militaris, a fungus better known as caterpillar fungus, which are processed into flexible sheets using glycerol. The resulting material has a leather-like texture and can be shaped into different forms, including the prototype dress.

The clever bit comes when the material is damaged. Researchers can add fresh fungal pellets and a small amount of water to a tear, providing the living mycelium with the conditions it needs to grow across the damaged area. As the fungus grows, its tiny filaments bridge the gap and regenerate the missing surface.

That means a damaged garment could, in principle, repair itself rather than needing to be stitched, patched or thrown away.

The researchers also found ways to give the living fabric extra capabilities by combining it with other microorganisms.

Engineered yeast can produce natural pigments, allowing the material to change colour without relying on conventional textile dyes. A separate fungus, Aspergillus niger, can also be grown across the surface to create a melanin-rich layer that helps absorb UV radiation.

The surface of the fungal fabric can also become water-repellent thanks to the structure of its aerial mycelium. In testing, water droplets rolled away without leaving residue, giving the material a degree of self-cleaning ability.

There is one fairly significant catch: the material is almost too biodegradable. Soil-burial tests showed it can break down almost completely in around 41 days.

That could be a major advantage for disposable or circular fashion, but it also highlights why this is still a laboratory demonstration rather than the next generation of everyday clothing.

The researchers have shown that living fungi can be turned into a functional textile with properties conventional fabrics simply can't offer. The next challenge is making it durable enough to survive real-world wear while keeping the fungus alive and functional.