The internet erupted into fits of laughter last week when Liam Gallagher fronted Berghaus’s re-issue of its Trango jacket. The blue, red and yellow raincoat was designed in 1986 for a British attempt to summit K2. “Is he wearing a Lidl coat?!” they roared. My first thought was — they can’t be from London. If they were, they would know everyone cool here wears a coat just like it; that anyone worth their Himalayan salt lamp in east London dresses as if they were about to embark on the Three Peaks Challenge.
This isn’t a new phenomenon — you couldn’t get a pint in The Spurstowe Arms without being stomped on by a Craghoppers hiking boot and brushing up against an Arc’teryx rain shell jacket last year, either — but it is going to define winter 2024 as well. The Gen Z contingent call this gorpcore (borrowing its name from the “good ol’ raisins and peanuts” trail mix acronym), but the trend forecaster WGSN is convinced we have moved a step further.
