Millet, Element launch winter street/sportswear collaboration
It is no surprise that skateboarding and climbing became Olympic sports at the Tokyo Games last year, since they share a common attitude to life. A daredevil approach which turns every rock face or concrete urban space into an arena, disregarding what mere mortals might think. For both practices, the philosophy chiefly consists in overcoming physical challenges through sheer determination. Based on this shared approach, Millet, a leading mountaineering and climbing brand, and Element, the skateboarding label owned by US board sports group Boardriders, have created a multi-faceted, attractive collaboration for next autumn.
The jointly designed collection features as a special project a number of high-performance products typical of Millet, like a jacket in Gore-Tex Pro fabric made using items from the mountaineering brand’s inactive inventory (priced at €600), an oversize waterproof down jacket, a colourful fleece made with the brand’s inactive Polartec inventory (€250), and fleece trousers (€150). The range is completed by bags made in recycled polyester, neck wraps and a sleeping bag for urban or outdoor adventures, suitable for minimum temperatures of -4°C.
The collaboration’s main line is called ‘Concrete Jungle’. Here too, the products have been designed to create looks inspired by streetwear and outdoor activity, with widespread use of recycled materials. The line includes t-shirts (€40), hats, jackets (priced up to €450), windbreakers, hoodies (€90), fleeces, overshirts and also travel bags.
The latter are well-suited to the brands’ two signature practices, with bags that can carry both a skateboard and the kind of reinforced trousers used for bouldering. The collection’s logo and the graphics featured on the t-shirts have a 1990s vibe. The collection will be commercialised by both brands.
This is a great opportunity for Millet and Element to boost their visibility by extending beyond their usual domains. Under the leadership of Frédéric Fages, Millet has revised its product range to make it more versatile, catering to different types of outdoor sports, and this collaboration is a nod towards urban consumers.
As for Element, whose Wolfeboro line experiments with the kind of apparel used for the great outdoors, notably revamping the brand's jacket range, the collaboration with Millet is a gateway to a market landscape that many brands are currently seeking to explore. It allows Element to strike a balance with urban culture, the latter evident in its latest collection that riffs on US rap band Public Enemy, introduced for Spring/Summer 2022 and to be featured again for the Fall/Winter.
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