Airblaster Mens Outerwear 2024/25 Preview

Retail Buyers Guide: Mens Outerwear FW24/25 Retail Buyer’s Guide
Brand: Airblaster
Interviewee: JESSE GRANDKOSKI, COFOUNDER & CREATIVE DIRECTOR

What is the overall theme behind your 2024/25 outerwear range? From which big trends do you take your inspiration?
The overall theme behind Airblaster’s 24/25 line is that—in the post pandemic era—we’re back to aggressively shaking things up and doing what we came to do, which is STAY WILD. The atmosphere of fear pervading the pandemic, combined with the accompanying international supply chain disruptions, created a conservative atmosphere in which introducing new and interesting products was a challenge on all fronts. Now that we are all once again craving some extra excitement in our lives, Airblaster is here to deliver head-turning outerwear in silhouettes and fits that are on-point. Increasing both sustainability and accessibility continue to be pillars of our growth.

What new fits / silhouettes are coming out in 2024/25? What pant and jacket styles are most important in your range?
Trends are rapidly moving towards wider / baggier fits, for both bottoms and tops. For 24/25, Airblaster will launch 3 pants in our new BAGGY PLUS fit, to serve the growing demand for baggy bottoms. To serve both function and fashion, one BAGGY PLUS pant is full elastic bottom, the other two are traditional leg opening with option to cinch. Tops are also trending wider, with slightly reduced length, allowing the wearer to cinch and blouse the jacket. New baggier Airblaster silhouettes offer unimpeded movement, full function, and maximum drip.

PHATSTRIPE JACKET GRAPES_

What new colours / prints are you introducing?
Purple is coming in hot for men. Purple plus lime green, even hotter! With his signature Bode Space print collection for Airblaster, Bode Merrill proves that both purple and space are fair game for the true snowboard gentleman. Shaking things up in the post pandemic era, Airblaster 24/25 prints are quite spicy: including a gangster ass black and white CHAINZ print hand drawn by Nick Dirks in his trademark prison tat style, as well as an iridescent FLAMES print on special Japanese fabric that shimmers in the light. Not just for the fashion street boyz, Airblaster FLAMES print is available in 3-Layer, 30K outerwear, for all you red-hot tech daddies who absolutely set the skin track and the powder fields on fire.

Any *NEW* technical stories with regards to fabrics and materials?
The Airblaster Beast 30K series outerwear features 100% recycled main outer fabrics. All black taffeta in the Airblaster line—our highest usage fabric across all categories—is either 100% solution dyed or 100% recycled. All Airblaster DWR is PFC free. New for 24/25, we’ve introduced a new value-based 10K fabric in our freedom series that is 100% recycled, because boarders care about the natural environment, whether big budget ballin’or just boardin’ on a budget. Working with a Japanese supplier, Airblaster has developed the ability to print over unique iridescent fabrics, creating 10K, 15K, and 30K outerwear prints that shift color and appear to luminesce as the wearer moves. You can literally roast marshmallows over our FLAMES print.

PHATSTRIPE JACKET GRAPES

Any trends that your brand is moving away from?
Airblaster is assertively moving away from the trend of corporate ski company subsidiaries and outdoor brands who snubbed snowboarding for decades, but are now making “snow” (combined ski/snowboard?) lines or full “snowboard” lines because they now want to make money off of snowboarders. This trend is dated.

What are your top marketing stories for 2024/25? (This will help us to put some focus in the right place.)
Bode Merrill—a man who needs no introduction—has joined the Airblaster Pro Team, sliding into his own Pro Model Collection in our 30K Beast Series for 24/25, in his own trademark Bode Space print! In collaboration with Lenny Powers, aka Len Jorgensen—another man who needs no introduction—Airblaster will be launching a heater Pro Model Collection for 24/25 in our accessible 10K Freedom Series, featuring a unique Len Sky Terry print. Airblaster continues to strive towards increasing access to snowboarding, launching a dirt cheap, full protection, Access Pant and Jacket in our 10K Freedom Series for 24/25.

BEAST 3L JACKET FLAMES