Twin Peaks: Barbour and White Mountaineering

David Hellqvist on the new collaboration between a classic British outdoor brand and its modern Japanese counterpart

Mixing aesthetics from polar opposite cultures doesn’t always work, but it makes the odd fruitful collaboration stand out even more. Japanese designer Yosuke Aizawa and his ultra­modern White Mountaineering brand have teamed up with British heritage staple Barbour, to successfully bring together their two sartorial ideas. Aizawa merged Barbour’s classic oil-coated fabrics and traditional shapes with his own hi-tech approach to intricate details, to ensure the collection really is the best of both worlds.

“I wanted to introduce a new point of view on Barbour,” Aizawa explains. “In Tokyo, you’ll see the people wearing Barbour with raw denim Levi’s jeans and Alden shoes, and I wanted to update that combination. Actually, you can keep the Levi’s and Aldens, but wear them with a Barbour x White Mountaineering jacket – and all of a sudden it’s a completely new look.”

This article appears in Port issue 16, out now