Patter - 01
A climbing world tour and On is coming for the heads...
Hello hello hello,
I’m Sam, I work as a strategist, researcher and general nerd across brand and product in sportswear, outdoor pursuits and also hospitality. I wanted a place to collate and share some of my findings.
I’ll also share my insights on the rare occasions I have some.
There should be one of these every week. Let’s go.
Some recent things:
Balancing_Acts, a Vancouver based climbing meet-up organiser has partnered with Arc'teryx to embark on a world tour.
Why I think this is interesting?
It's fun and feels far more compelling than other brand partnerships I've seen lately.
I’ve grown a little tired of seeing run crews and the like do a bit of art direction for a campaign. There's other ways to work with brands - let's see them.
Second, I love the posters - just look at them:
On’s Cloudmonster has seen some special treatment from Post Archive Faction (PAF).
Why I think this is interesting?
On have been lingering in gorp-y circles for a while. The Cloudventure is a gorp crowd pleaser and anecdotally, I’ve been seeing more of the Cloudmonster on the feet of objectively cool folk, over in Japan in particular. See here, some of the Beams buying team in Paris wearing Cloudmonsters.
This pairing, with PAF is the first loud signal that On are coming for the heads.
These new racers from Li-ning unveiled at PFW
For a while now, I’ve been tracking the present-day influence climbing shoes have had on sneaker lacing systems - my latest catch is these new Li-Ning runners.
Why I think this is interesting?
I think these such nuanced design accents will be one of the artifacts we'll be left once fashion moves firmly away from gorp.
I'm expecting to see a lot more Li-Ning in Europe from next summer onwards if their Paris fashion week presence is anything to go by.
I wonder whether we’ll see more lifestyle-themed seeding, unlike their Soulland collabs.
From a while ago now, Tracksmith shining a light on Black Roses run crew member, Asmeret Berhe-Lumax and her One Love Community Fridges really got me thinking about the impact I’d like to see more of in/around sports communities.
Check it here
Some things I’ve read:
A new climbing gym in Norway that’s lovely looking
A neat profile on how a once IYKYK East London run crew is maturing into a ‘proper’ business