During the winter season, many people who are adventurous and consider themselves outdoorsy tend to participate in activities such as skiing, mountaineering and many more. Arc’teryx, the outdoor apparel company based in Vancouver, Canada, designed their clothing for those who are in love with the outdoors. Arc’teryx’s history begins in 1989 where they were originally named Rock Solid. It wasn’t until 1991 where the brand would rebrand and change to the new iconic name Arcteryx. From the get-go Arcteryx focused their branding around mountain gear and outerwear. David Lane, the founder of Arc’teryx and avid climber, started the brand due to his belief that mountain gear in Canada lacked quality. He began creating clothes in his basement and would advertise his products to other climbers.
As the company developed, David then decided to bring Jeremy Guard, who was a friend of his, into ownership. The two would discuss how the brand would continue further. For more context, Jeremy Guard was already a businessman and was known for being an aggressive one. People described Jeremy as a creative visionary and former Arcteryx Employee, Tom Routh, stated in an interview by FYI design “Jeremy hired me back in 1988 to create the snow sports program of apparel and Packs for Arc’teryx. His belief in me was an inflection point in my career, as he empowered me to do my best possible work. He supported high risk innovations like the Sidewinder Jacket, when others couldn’t see the benefit.” Unfortunately, Jeremy passed away in 2022 due to a house fire at his home in Maun, Botswana.
Arc’teryx continued to grow and in 2005 was purchased by Amer sports after a prior purchase by Salomon Group in 2001. By 2019 Amer Sports stakes dropped and Anta Sports, a Chinese sports company, bought 56% of stakes in Amer giving them more control over Arc’teryx. Through 2017 to 2023 various celebrities including Drake. Frank Ocean and Virgil Abloh have been spotted wearing Arc’teryx out in public which has helped the brand gain further recognition. Bella Hadid, an famous American fashion model, wore Arc’teryx to a fashion week in Paris which sparked headlines revolving around the brand. Many fashion magazines and media groups wrote how Arc’teryx finally appeared in a fashion week and how Bella Hadid played a big part in giving the company a boost in notoriety.
What makes Arc’teryx so iconic and popular grew from their gore-tex quality jackets and parkas. Their most famous jackets from their gore-tex line include the Beta SL/AR, Sabre, and Alpha which all vary from $400-$900. For those who are unaware, Gore-tex is a high quality fabric that promotes waterproof technology. It also boasts high-quality wind-resistance while also being breathable for its consumers. However it’s clear that Gore-tex is not cheap by any means and for many it could be seen as an unreasonable purchase especially if they’re not the outdoorsy type and are just looking for casual and durable outdoor apparel.
When 2021 came around the fashion industry changed and people began gravitating towards outdoor apparel. Brands such as North Face, Patagonia, Canada Goose, Columbia, and Arc’teryx started to rise and gain traction. What set apart Arc’teryx from these brands included their designs and quality fabric. During March 2021 a song titled “Arc’teryx” was dropped by a United Kingdom rapper named YT. Tiktok, a social media platform, had Arc’teryx consumers posting themselves out in heavy rain or were purposely drenching themselves in showers with their jackets showing off the gore-tex water resistance. In the videos the water would just bead off the person recording making them appear waterproof while they would include the Arc’teryx song over their video. One famous video regarding the trend consisted of a dog wearing an Arcteryx beanie and jacket. The video received over 400,000 likes and millions of views.
Despite the rapid rise of Arc’teryx, the company was facing many controversial opinions from fans old and new alike. Complaints from older fans argued that the new consumers just bought the brand for the trend and stated that most of the people don’t even engage in mountaineering or other outdoorsy activities that the brand once engaged its consumers with. Those who wanted to purchase Arc’teryx for its sole purpose of outdoor use found it difficult because those who were in it for the trend were hogging up all the inventory. On various social forums such as Reddit, UKClimbing and Mountain Project many fans discussed their frustrations with custom service and lack of quality. Dotan Saguy, a forum poster on Mountain project, wrote “I thought I’d share my experience I just had with an expensive Arc’teryx rush jacket. It’s only three years old and the lining fabric is already wearing off in two spots… they offered to send me patches to cover the holes in the fabric lining… I was quite shocked and asked them to relay my outrage to their management… I own over 15 Arc’teryx pieces but this might be the last piece I buy from them.”
As of 2024 Arc’teryx has established over 160 locations in big cities in areas such as Washington DC, New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles California. For those of you who may be interested in owning something from Arc’teryx I would highly recommend checking out their tongues and beanies. They are on the pricey side but definitely worth it. I’d personally recommend the Word Head Toque, Grotto Toque, and the Bird Head Toque. If you’re struggling to find Arc’teryx items on the official website companies such as Travel Country Outfitters and Rei Co-op sell Arc’teryx jackets, shoes, toques and many other Arc’teryx gear. While many may argue that Arc’teryx has strayed away from its core values, the brand still produces well-engineered clothing for the outdoors. Despite the brand facing criticism from long-time consumers and the rise of influence from the street wear community, Arc’teryx still continues its roots dedicated to the outdoor gear and apparel.
