After 2021’s North America Roadshow GORE-TEX Studio has visited 13 like-minded individuals in different cities across Japan to talk about their personal backgrounds, local climates, favorite spots, and GORE-TEX. As a visual component, each host picked her/his favorite GORE-TEX outfit to be portrayed in. The result is a showcase of diverse styles and subcultures, captured for the GORE-TEX STUDIO JAPAN ROADSHOW.
GORE-TEX Studio: How would you describe yourself in one sentence? I’m a vintage Arc’teryx hunter.
GORE-TEX Studio: Tell us a bit about your city’s climate. What are your three favorite outdoor spots in the summer and the winter? What is your favorite method of transportation and why? How do you prepare for bad weather if you spend time outside? Japan has four seasons and a rainy season. We have modern cities like Tokyo, as well as places of great natural beauty, with beautiful mountains and greenery. In Tokyo, I like spending time in Futakotamagawa. There are shopping malls, department stores, and restaurants, plus the river is flowing nearby. The city is really green, clean, and pleasant. The best place to experience nature is Kamikochi in Nagano Prefecture. It's such a beautiful place to visit. My favorite methods of transport are walking and cycling. Tokyo is very densely populated, so walking or cycling is often more convenient than driving or taking the train.
GORE-TEX Studio: What are you wearing today? Why are you wearing it, and did you have a particular weather scenario in mind when choosing this piece? What do you love most about your GORE-TEX product? In a city like Tokyo, it can be cold outside, but very warm and humid inside, so it’s very convenient to carry a shell jacket, a T-shirt as an inner layer, and maybe a fleece depending on how cold it is. GORE-TEX is so light and thin, so your jacket can be packed away and put in a backpack when you’re not wearing it. A GORE-TEX jacket looks much cooler than an umbrella [laughs].
GORE-TEX Studio: Where and when did you get this? Do you have any special memories connected to this item? If you could go anywhere, where would you like to take this piece? This is the first Arc’teryx Alpha SV from 1999. It's the same model and the same color famously worn by late skateboarder Harold Hunter. This jacket inspired me to start collecting Arc'teryx. I was aware of Arc’teryx and the jacket itself for some time, but it was not easy to find. I think it was three or four years ago that I bought it. I found it in a second-hand shop. I would love to wear it in London because London is really inspiring to me.
GORE-TEX Studio: Why do you think functional clothing has become more popular in recent years? In general, the pandemic has made us collectively yearn for outdoor activities. In terms of fashion, the technical clothing trends of the late ‘90s and early 2000s have come back around. High-fashion brands have also taken notice of this trend, which has pushed functional clothing to become even more popular. Once you own a few functional pieces, you will immediately realize how comfortable they are.
GORE-TEX Studio: How do you define comfort when it comes to technical apparel? To me, comfort is the ability to adjust to the weather, adjust to the temperature, and stay dry. In this sense, GORE-TEX items truly represent comfort.
GORE-TEX Studio: What are you looking forward to in the next six months, and are there any upcoming challenges that you're excited about? I dance to my own beat [laughs]. I want to wear the things that I personally like, without trying to fit in with others.
“Once you own a few functional pieces, you will immediately realize how comfortable they are.”