Mens Outerwear FW24/25 Retail Buyer’s Guide
From recycled fabrics to earth tone colour palettes, Snowboard Outerwear is steadily moving towards the future. Anna Langer sums up the trends for Men in FW24/25.
Boys will be boys, they say, and Men’s Outerwear continues to be reminiscent the good old days of the 90s. “The Baseline has always been inspired by the 90’s era tracksuit style that we grew up with in Southern U.K. This year we have dived deeper into that theme, basing the collections colourways on iconic trainers from that period,” says Brethren. Oxbow also show “products with retro style, with graphics coming straight from our records back in the 90s” and 32’s collection is full of iconic colour. “Throwing it back, Flippin´it forward” is the theme for Colorwear, throwing the brand back to the DNA when it was established, and flipping it forward in design, fabrics, environment friendly technique and details. “We as a brand and crew behind the brand find our inspiration from the 90´s snowboard scene, grunge music and fish-eye lenses.”
Many brands also share a special focus on their team as Aurelien Silvestre, Oxbow Product Manager states: “Our outerwear range is fully dedicated to the riders, and developed in collaboration with our ambassadors. They are our inspiration. We want to deliver products that fit to their needs, that got the features they expect when exploring the mountains.” Brent Sandor of 686 agrees: “Rider driven fits and colorations permeate the collection. We looked to the riders more than ever in this season. You will see simpler colours, bigger fits, updated gloves/mitts and a new beanie collection.” Oakley tread a similar path: “Our distinct partnership with our athletes is a collective effort, involving the close collaboration in designing products alongside them. We tap into their needs and draw inspiration from their experiences to craft superior products. This season, our collaboration extends to exceptional athletes such as Colby Stevenson, Sage Kotsenburg, and Renne Rinnekangas.”
Broadly mentioned across brands is also the topic of inclusiveness. “Our message goes beyond snowboarding. We are a brand that celebrates the individual and the world’s diversity. So our message is about values. We are a brand for Y*U whether you ride or not.” says Templeton. Brethren will be updating their brand next year, yet stay true to their core company values: “We aim to bring high quality gear at real people prices, recognising that Gore-Tex is not necessarily the best option for a one-week-a-year corduroy cruiser.” Another way to approach this is versatility: “One of the trends we are seeing is the desire to transition seamlessly between the on and off mountain environments. Our designs focus is on adaptability, modularity and the ability for our consumers to tailor their outfits around their needs whether they are based on the conditions or personal preferences,” says Oakley.
Yet function is of course a key factor that is not neglected either: “Our goal is to make our outerwear as functional, durable, responsibly made and timeless as possible. This design ethos applies to all aspects of our outerwear from materials to fit, features and colours,” says Jones. DC quote weather defence as their main topic: “From the nastiest mid-winter powder days to the mellowest late season scrapes. DC outerwear is built for riding any terrain in any conditions.” And Horsefeathers implement a strategic shift prompted by a growing demand for high-end jackets: “While we transition towards these more sophisticated items, our commitment to affordability remains unwavering. We understand the importance of balancing premium quality with cost-effectiveness, ensuring our customers don’t have to compromise.” Forward Outdoor, who are making a comeback with Tony McWilliam as Global Brand Director, see a “massive gap in the market between style, sustainability and performance. You seem to have brands which are more fashion orientated, or just focused on sustainability or purely functional and I don’t think anyone blends them together well. Forward has always had a great tech-influence but I think that the FW24/25 collection really raises the bar in terms of detailing, fit, performance and style.”
Additional special themes include “Stay Wild” from Airblaster, delivering head-turning outerwear after the conservative atmosphere in the last couple years and “Circus Circus” by Burton, spanning bold, surprising and unimaginable to puzzling and perplexing, while Picture Organic Clothing quote a wide range of areas such as furniture, design, and the fashion market as sources for creative input. Last but not least, surf veterans Hurley are making their debut on the European snow market in the FW24/25 season, taking inspiration “from the idea of ‘FREE’: “Feeling free to use our collection as you wish, when you want where you want,” explains Fernando Rivero, Product Director. “If we know how to protect and perform in cold waters (wetsuits) we can protect and perform in the mountain. Wear an unexpected brand, fresh style and offer they can wear feeling free in the slopes.”
FITS & SILHOUETTES
More baggier fits aren’t entirely new, but enhanced through the ongoing 90s trend and the growing focus on inclusivity they spread even wider (pun intended). “Trends are rapidly moving towards wider / baggier fits, for both bottoms and tops. For FW24/25, Airblaster will launch 3 pants in a new Baggy Plus fit, to serve the growing demand for baggy bottoms. In addition to that tops are also trending wider, with slightly reduced length, allowing the wearer to cinch and blouse the jacket. For L1 making sure people can get the baggy pant they want that fits true to sizer has been a big focus: “People no longer need to get XXL pants with a small jacket to get the fit and look they want.” Also 686 go for “loose, but not ridiculously oversized. There is an amount of just right that riders like Forest Bailey, Tommy Gesme and Gigi Rüf are looking for.” Forward focus on bibs, highlighting an oversize style with plenty of room. Horsefeathers also embrace a more spacious, comfortable style with broader cuts across various pieces. “The wider cuts are designed to offer a more laid-back look while ensuring maximum mobility and comfort, which is particularly important in active wear,” says Tomas Koudela, Head of Marketing. At the same time, he notices a decrease in the popularity of parka-style jackets, which they are slowing phasing out of their collection.
He adds that “The upcoming trend of unisex and loose-fit apparel significantly influences our latest collection. This trend reflects a shift towards more versatile outerwear options, catering to a diverse range of body types and style preferences.” This has also been an influence for Burton, who introduce their new FutureTrust collection: “We’re diving into something new to combine that cool, effortless, streetwear vibe with premium high-tech ingredients and clean design lines. It’s a true gender neutral design, and was built to be a slightly oversized contemporary cut. This means the jackets have a shorter boxier fit, and the bibs and pants have a carrot/cocoon shape.” Colorwear favour a similar look for their new oversized light padded Box Jacket and Box Pant: “You can either wear the pants as they are or tighten them up in the leg ending, like a cuff. This product has already been a one of the favourites from our athletes.” Templeton also strive to make their collection “attractively neutral. We try to include aspects of current and progressive fashion aspects. For the new collection this means a range from relaxed baggy fits to more tailored cuts, in order to match everyone’s preference. Rider or not.”
Next to this, there is also a growing market for high performance. For their AK line, Burton have removed as many seams as possible and are rolling out a new technology called ‘Kinetic garment construction’: “The Patterns are designed so that the grain of the fabric wraps around your shoulders, knees, elbows, points of movement, so that the fabrics natural properties can move with you and not limit you.” Along the same lines, Rehall work with ergonomic fittings, light weight, comfortable to wear and durable. Picture Organic Clothing describe their approach with ‘Utility’: “We designed this entire line of high-performance, Circular polyester, no-frills, sleek technical apparel with only the features that you absolutely need. This monochrome range for men and women pushes Picture’s commitment to the steep lines (and to the environment of course) one step further.”
Reflecting the current world climate, Mammut have cantered their whole FW24/25 collection around the topic of ‘resourceful performance’: “The range takes inspiration from the growing trend towards resourceful fashion and circular economy. This is a movement that prioritizes the use of more responsible materials, reduces waste, and aims for a closed-loop system where products are designed to be reused or recycled, rather than ending up as waste.” This also brings us an update to their most important all mountain snowsports shells, the Stoney: “Made from the ground up to be as resourceful as possible whilst still delivering the performance and protection the Stoney is known for. This has been achieved through the optimized pattern to reduce fabric usage, and utilizing the most durable workmanships we can.”
TECHNOLOGY & MATERIALS
“I think the industry is starting to understand that sustainability has to be a core tenet of your brand, but it can’t be THE focus. It’s just expected now,” says Forward. “The brand has to be about something bigger – we’ve always focused on what the product empowers people to do and I think it’s more relevant to talk about where we want to go as a species and what we want the outdoors to mean to people.” They feature PFC-free DWR coatings, recycled fabrics and insulation technologies from Toray, Primaloft, Polartec and more.
Recycled materials is the number 1 ingredient for outerwear in FW24/25, as Rehall highlight in their 3-layer DXR collection with fully taped recycled Dermizax shell fabrics next to recycled padding and lining The Airblaster Beast 30K series outerwear features 100% recycled main outer fabrics and all their DWR is PFC free. Templeton highlight their Sympatex collection which is not just warm and waterproof but also completely made from recycled material and will be completely recycled after it is worn out, while Mammut announce the Loopinsulation, a unique insulation, made from mechanically recycled rope production scraps. And since longevity is an extremely crucial factor of sustainability as well, they also aiming to reduce bonding, wherever possible and changing from heat transfer logos, which often are not very durable to embroidered logos, that stand the test of time and in general moving to a durable and repairable workmanship.
32 introduce a new value-based 10K fabric in their Freedom series that is 100% recycled, “because boarders care about the natural environment, whether big budget ballin’ or just boardin’ on a budget” says Emmanuel Labadie. Proven true by Oxbow team rider Mathieu Crepel who challenged his signature brand to lower the impact of his silhouette on water at every step: “by using recycled polyester NewlifeTM yarn, Sympatex® membrane and a light colourway fabric, we reduced the water consumption by 65% compared to a standard garment production. By producing locally in Portugal, we avoided sea freight, contributing to reduce the ocean pollution. By using PFC free DWR and high standard quality fabric, we reduce land pollution during garment usage.” For L1 their long term goal is for 100% of the line being from recycled materials.
Jones Snowboards redesigned the Men’s Shralpinist Gore collection for FW24/25, including a restyled jacket and brand new bibs made with the new 3L C-Knit GORE-TEX ePE that is 100% PFAS free, as is their entire softgoods line. “All our main shell materials in the Jones outerwear line are also 100% recycled, and we are the only snowboard brand using 100% recycled 750+ fillpower down in our down insulation jackets,” says Chris Westen. Norrona extend the ePE from the tamok to their lofoten collection and Burton update most of their Gore fabrics to the ePe offering, with a goal of 100% by the end of FW26. “It’s a great opportunity to align our fabrics with our people, planet, sport values” and Oakley expand their offering with their FNDRY 30/20k “for ultimate waterproofness and breathability as well as sustainable insulation and treatments.” Picture Organic Clothing continue to work with the XPORE membrane, which they’ve been carrying for four seasons now. “It’s the most performing membrane on the market after GORE TEX Pro, with no chemical (PFOA / PFOS) added,” claims Product Manager Maxime Lemaitre.
Other news in this area include a unique iridescent fabric that holds prints, that shift colour and appear to luminesce as the wearer moves that Airblaster has developed with their Japanese supplier and implement on their 10K, 15K, and 30K outerwear. Brethren tell us about their discovery of a new technique to bond the internal fleece layer to the external waterproofing layer: “This allows us to improve the quality of the fleece we use, making our outerwear more comfortable and warmer, both of which are elements we value within our product range.” Another new development is announced by Horsefeathers: “We’ve developed our new Ultratech 3-layer fabric in collaboration with our partners in Taiwan. This fabric is designed to maximize performance while maintaining the durability and lightweight nature of the jacket.”
COLOURS
What can we expect in the colour department for FW24/25? Not much that hasn’t been seen before, which is a good thing if you see it from an eco point of view. Switching your whole wardrobe every year to match new trends couldn’t be further from a sustainable approach – Colorwear even state that while they try to do their best to lower the impact of the environment, they encourage to buy less and ride more.
Yet of course there are some trends emerging stronger this year than they have been before, for example Purple as top shade for men: “Purple is coming in hot for men. Plus lime green, even hotter!” find Airblaster and you can also find Paisley Purple next to Wild Lime, Hyacinth and Pastel Colours at Picture Organic Clothing, while Jones introduce Teal and Purple to their timeless Brown, Gray and Black pallet. “Some of the new colours to the line this year are Summit Taupe, Deep Emerald and Goldenrod. We’re developing our colour palette to run across all of our collections and have reduced our overall product line,” explains Burton. 32 opt for a “cleaner look with strong colour blocking”, Brethren have a varied range of classic block colours and prints, “with some new brighter and more vibrant options included for the more adventurous wearer” and Picture also stay true to their “iconic colour block design.” 686 continue to see interest from men and women in their Dusty Pinks and find that “Red is also trending with the athletes as it is classic, but pops in the backcountry.” Forward also mention Trash Pink next to Grey Denim, yet state that: “We’ve always focused on textures across the brand”, like a stretch ripstop which is fully technical but feels amazing.
Next to these more bold colour options, we can find a lot of natural inspiration in the FW24/25 collections. “Observing a trend towards earth tones again” Horsefeathers blend them with more vibrant, eye-catching colours and prints: “Key colourways include Desert Camo all-over print and a palette of Mojave, Blue Haze, Hydro, Mirage Gray, and Sulphur colours.” For Oxbow, “inspiration comes from Mathieu Crépel’s special relation with water, in all its states. The colours and shades are inspired by the ice, the rivers, the snow,” and Oakley agree that they too “draw not only from the latest colour trends but from the rich palette found in organic elements. Earth tones and shades become our canvas, mirroring the subtle beauty of the world outside.” Hurley work with Armoned Navy/Cargo, Lone Pine, Hickory Brown & Roadside, inspired by the natural colours of frozen water, earth, & rocks and 686 introduce Sage as a key colour. Mammut say: “The FW24/25 colour palette reflects the beauty of nature and our brand’s heritage. Our range features earthy tones inspired by the great outdoors, with hues such as Dark Marsh, Marsh, and Aura. Adding a vibrant twist to our collection, we’ve included pop colours like Neo Lime and Glacier Blue. These shades bring a lively contrast to our earthy tones, offering a fresh and dynamic look.”
For Templeton, it’s all about highlighting the individual. “Some like it muted, some don’t and we tried to find the line here. Our palette reaches subtle, faded hues like beige while also including vibrant pops of pink. It is all set to be combined with different kinds of add ons and additional colours, whether they come from us or out of the personal closets” and 32 trust fully in their team to choose their own style directions with their signature kits.
PRINTS
Pro Riders are also the main source for signature prints. “Every few years JP brings back an update to his original snow camo and we did a version of that for his TM Pant & Light Anorak. Scott Stevens has a custom ‘haze’ print pulling from an outer space theme, but brightened up with a rich red. For Zeb Powell he picked a custom version of a tree bark camo which features in his Sweeper XLT pant” says 32 and L1 also feature an in-house designed camo colour way. 686 have a unique print for Gigi Rüf designed by his friend Lukas Goeller and Airblaster advertise their signature Bode Space print: “Bode Merrill proves that both Purple and space are fair game for the true snowboard gentleman” next to a “gangster ass black and white CHAINZ print hand drawn by Nick Dirks in his trademark prison tat style and the iridescent FLAMES print on special Japanese fabric that shimmers in the light.” Horsefeathers are thrilled to introduce new prints on their Chuck coach jacket in collaboration with their riders Halldór Helgason and Daniel Hanka and local artists. and also Jones continue their all-over print by painter RP Roberts in Teal and Black.
Burton’s prints range from tonal and subdued to more expressive and high-visibility, so there’s really an option for everyone. For those who like it more natural, there are again a lot of earth-inspired options. “Our prints are visual narratives of the intricate patterns and textures found in nature. Our designs reflect the organic and harmonious aesthetics of the natural world and altered nature, whether it’s the swirls in rocks, the intricate lines on bark or leaves, or how the light plays on the water,” says Oakley. Mammut have a seasonal black and white GRAIN print, which is inspired by spraying powder and Colorwear introduce a dark map printing and a water camo print.
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