Touring showrooms and shops in NY last winter with Simon and Hannes from tres chic Tres Bien Shop, one of the collections I was clamoring for them to carry was White Mountaineering. The themes of White Mountaineering gear--technically sophisticated, often weatherproof fabrics cut and sewn with a designer's eye--have been echoed (if not aped) by a number of lines since. Yosuke Aizawa's work at White Mountaineering has hints of his time with Junya Watanabe as well as the aesthetic of Takahiro Miyashita at Number (N)ine, and shares something with other Japanese lines like Factotum and N.Hoolywood, all hard-to-find in shops that ship globally. On my NY jaunt, the White Mountaineering team preferred I not shoot the collection, and I respected their wishes, but I couldn't keep my hands off the outerwear, knits, and accessories. This summer I did get a chance to cover a collection in advance for Styleforum, but fall/winter is really where the action is.
Tres Bien Shop will indeed be carrying a selection of White Mountaineering this fall, and other shops, including Wisconsin's Context Clothing, have started getting their buys up. So far, so good. Warning: it's not for the faint of wallet.
The White Mountaineering dudes with Hannes and Simon.
Product shots from Context Clothing.
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