Designer Outdoor Living – Penfield & Napapijri

Not so long ago outdoor clothing brands were for the ramblers, travellers and walkers and the designer clothing brands were aimed at males and females that liked to look good, stay on trend and portray their own personal style. In recent times the two entities have crossed over, meaning that the outdoor clothing has now become designer outdoor clothing. We’ll take a look at two of the brands breaking the trends and ensuring that their brand is included as a “lifestyle brand”, a key phrase that seems to be being thrown around a lot at the moment.

Firstly let’s take a look at Penfield. Established in Massachusetts, USA in 1975 and over the years have built a solid reputation for creating the highest quality outerwear, including goose down jackets, fleece wear and fantastic outerwear. This year sees the 35th anniversary of the US brand and alongside that has seen Penfield jackets and clothing appear on Mainline Menswear for the first time. The jackets and outerwear are built to withstand most conditions, with cold, wet, rain and snow not appearing to faze the designers or the garments in the slightest. The design team at Penfield has been developed over time and now features experienced designers who know and love the outdoors with fashion, function, practicality and durability being the bread and butter for every style and item manufactured. Since the first inclination that the outdoor world and the fashion world were about to cross over Penfield have added and emphasized the trend and style element with checked shirts, chunky knitwear, silk coated puffa jackets and patches such as suede, leather or tartan all featuring the signature Penfield bear logo on a brown leather patch, usually found on the left sleeve or chest.
Penfield pride their designs and garments on having a “perfect Penfield” for every element and need, within the current range there are obvious items for cold weather, wet weather, autumn chill and just general out and about, the whole time supporting and showing off a piece of American outdoor history, the highly reputable Penfield name.

Next on the list of superb outdoor fashion brands comes Napapijri, the Italian based arctic super brand that only has fifteen to twenty years of experience to call upon, but a lot has been achieved in that space of time. Originally hailing from the small town of Aosta Napapijri began by designing bags and backpacks for walkers and travellers. The bags were of such a fantastic quality that things soon began progressing at an amazing rate with rave reviews being given about their products and uses. Clothing soon followed and the company hasn’t looked back since. Roughly translated in Finnish Napapijri reads as Arctic Circle, a place where the outdoor clothing brand aspires to go. This translation fits perfectly with the brand as it provides clothing for all walks of life and believes that travelling from pole to pole grows a person and that to grow as a person is to gain knowledge. This knowledge is used by the design team to create a fashionable yet functional clothing range that can be used the world over, whether it be travelling or walking, being out and about or at work. Everything in the Napapijri range is reputed as hard wearing, rugged and aesthetic, all complete with the signature Norwegian flag or the embroidered text logo.
Napapijri will be a major player in the outdoor fashion crossover for years to come with the Italian influence in the brand ensuring that they stay at the forefront of the trend setting, not following.

Both brands are available at Mainline Menswear and are new for Autumn Winter 2010, perfect as the British weather is about to get very cold. So when you start to feel the chill but want to continue looking good look no further than two of the coolest outdoor designer brands currently available.