Launched in the Fall of 2019, Beringia is a ‘development-driven brand that draws equally from design ideation, technical innovation, and advanced fiber and fabric engineering’. Prior to successfully launching Beringia, Bernie co-founded Duckworth, the only 100% Made-in-USA Merino wool clothing company, and has also played major roles in providing Brand and Marketing direction for outdoor powerhouses K2 and the SWATCH group, to name a few.

While Bernthal’s work experience is certainly commendable, he’ll be the first to tell you his story and Beringia’s span WELL beyond the confines of any office. As you’ll find out in this interview, Bernie is a true pioneer of the outdoor industry whose passion for nature and outdoor recreation has taken him on a multitude of worldly adventures over many decades. Through these experiences and shared passions of skiing, surfing, mountain climbing, and mother nature, Bernie’s formed friendships with like-minded folk – from across Europe to Japan – that have helped him propel Beringia into a reality.

We’ll leave it there and let Bernie takeover in sharing his perspective on Nature-Culture-Future…Strap in and get ready to enjoy the latest Wild Ingenuity™ adventure!

NATURE
Tell us a bit about yourself, your company/scope of work, and how nature is woven into your product strategy…

NATURE (continued)

CULTURE
Where do you go for inspiration and what out there in current culture is creating the best or most interesting vibes to motivate you?

Bernie: Really good design. Anything made with wool, the process to the final product. Kinda obvious and vanilla. The Japanese outdoor/street/fashion/textile scene is a pretty cool collision of styles that is producing an interesting aesthetic.

FUTURE
What does the future look like for your work and what’s on your mind as you look forward?

Bernie: Great timing to ask this question. I will never stop working and will always be looking to bring newness and change. I want to disrupt the commodity brands, find new, international, interesting like-minded people and brands to do cool stuff with to keep us young and active. It’s also inspiring to see the trending collision of sorts on the way between outdoor, technical, and fashion industries.

Follow Beringia on Instagram // learn more about Beringia’s Master of Bishu Collection here

Our many thanks to Bernie for offering his time, wisdom, and experience towards this piece!

The post Wild Ingenuity™: Robert ‘Bernie’ Bernthal of Beringia appeared first on VANISH TODAY.

Known for its deep artistic and intersectional roots, this 413-year-old city is famous for incubating creative greats, yes including Georgia O’Keeffe, and inspiring artists and outdoor lovers of all ilks with awe-inducing canyons, national forests, protected Native lands, and monuments at its perimeter. You can feel the ghosts here in the same way you can feel the vortexes in Sedona. It’s sacred, special.

Santa Fe’s historic plaza and downtown please with many walkable streets (try Burro Alley for eateries and art) and easy access to the outdoors — Ski Santa Fe is only 16 miles from downtown, lending it legit ski town status, to many outsiders surprise.

And in line with Santa Fe’s curious motto, “The City Different,” you can’t help but feel the pull of deep historical roots, grounded in Pueblo tradition with Mexican, Spanish, and anglo influence. It was an epicenter of Western expansion. The hanging chiles or “Ristras” on front porches tie back to 1598 when Conquistador Don Juan Onate introduced chiles from Mexico, and the crop was adopted by the ancestral Puebloans. At the same time you can head to the Five & Dime General Store for a Frito Pie, all the cliches are true and not true at the same time.

Whatever your heart desires, Santa Fe keeps evolving with a fiery spirituality, creativity and adventure at its core.

Imbibe

Yes — the margaritas are really good in Santa Fe. The Santa Fe Margarita Trail is a testament to that. The city has put together a custom passport for a total of 45 bars and restaurants. Once you try a bar’s signature Margarita you get a stamp. Better yet, the more stamps you collect the more prizes. After 15 stamps you are inducted into the official Margarita Society. After 5, you earn a T-shirt. If you complete the trail, you earn the elusive VIP Margarita package.

If you fancy a wider variety of libations, attend New Mexico Cocktail Week. The event, which takes place June 2-10, will see Santa Fe bars and restaurants host high-quality cocktail experiences, educational seminars, and signature events about the fine art of mixology.

And for those who want to sling mud and knock back a few, the Tumbleroot Pottery Pub is Santa Fe’s first “Art Bar.” Conceived by the owners of Paseo Pottery and Tumbleroot Brewery & Distillery (who are also husband and wife), Tumbleroot Pottery Pub is a new experience where cocktails and clay coexist. The location offers a full bar, tasting room/bottle shop, ceramic gallery and pottery studio in one space. The bar features Tumbleroot’s locally brewed and distilled products served in Paseo Pottery made vessels specifically designed to complement each beverage. Patrons of the pottery pub will be invited to embrace their creative side and get their hands dirty forming their own works of art using communal workshop tables, raw clay, and tools provided.

Explore

The dry climate and high desert vistas are one of a kind in Santa Fe. The city’s health-centric, natural mindset and access to the outdoors put visitors at ease. Just this month, a New Soaking Pool and Sun/Moon Deck opened at the Inn of the Five Graces Spa. The sparkling, turquoise waters of the soaking pool provide a refreshing oasis in the midst of Santa Fe’s high-desert landscape, while plush lounge chairs and shaded cabanas invite guests to relax and soak up the sun at this luxury inn. At night, the deck comes alive with the glow of stars in Santa Fe’s dark sky above, creating a romantic and tranquil atmosphere perfect for unwinding after a day of exploring.

Lace your hiking boots and trail running shoes to run, play and camp in the Santa Fe National Forest. Boasting 1.6 million acres of mountains and mesas, the Santa Fe National Forest has activities for every outdoor lover. Car camp or backpack in the Pecos Las Vegas Ranger District, where some of the most backpacking and hiking trails lie, or head over to the Diablo Canyon Recreation Area for some climbing and camping. History buffs will also enjoy the Pecos National Historic Park to see pueblos and a Spanish church from 1717.

A 30-minute drive or bus ride will take you to Ski Santa Fe. The ski area is located in the Santa Fe National Forest and is a small but mighty mountain with advanced, intermediate, and beginner terrain to boot. Plus the blue bus is a public transit option that runs daily to and from the city to the mountain and is free to ride.

Experience

Santa Fe’s roots run deep and the city’s traditions will pull you in. On September 1, 2023, Santa Fe will celebrate the 99th Burning of Zozobra. The Burning of Zozobra is one of Santa Fe’s most iconic and beloved traditions. Each year, a 50-foot-tall marionette named Zozobra (Spanish for “the gloomy one”) is constructed and stuffed with the glooms of Santa Feans and visitors. All are welcome to attend, chant “burn him” with the crowd of 70,000, and watch the pageantry as torch bearers and a fire dancer ignite Zozobra’s skirt to send the woes of the past year up in flames.

Visiting Santa Fe also wouldn’t be complete without honoring the state’s arguably most famous artist. The Georgia O’Keeffe Museum is in its 25th Anniversary Year. The museum, which opened in July 1997, has been sharing the paintings, creative process, and personal effects of Georgia O’Keeffe with visitors to Santa Fe for 25 years. The exhibit Radical Abstraction, running through October 30, 2023, explores many of O’Keeffe’s favorite subjects to paint that she returned to repeatedly over many years. The exhibit brings together abstract paintings from all periods of her career showing themes she returned to and refined over time. Georgia O’Keeffe: Making a Life, on view through March 2024, explores the artist’s identity as a “Maker” in the mid-20th century in rural Northern New Mexico and includes vignettes of her world from handmade clothing, furniture gifted from designer friends Ray and Charles Eames, items purchased on her foreign travels to beloved cooking and garden tools.

Attend

There’s no more authentic way to explore Santa Fe’s neighborhoods and culture than to visit in the throngs of summer with long days and cool nights. The plaza bursts with energy, tourists, artisans and events through July and August.

The International Folk Art Market [July 5-9] celebrates traditional artisans who use handmade practices and honor timeless, generational artistic endeavors.

The Traditional Spanish Market [July 29-30] takes place on the legendary Santa Fe plaza — where you can support local Hispanic artists and enjoy live music at this almost 100-year-old event. The Contemporary Hispanic Market will also take place on the plaza at this time and is the world’s largest contemporary Hispanic market.

The 101st Santa Fe Indian Market [August 19-20] will take place on and around the Santa Fe central plaza, with artists from over one-hundred tribal communities in North America and Canada.

Expand

Santa Fe is the biggest art market in the U.S. behind only LA and New York City. The art districts are extensive, but a visit to Canyon Road is a must-see and a great start (it hosts over 80 galleries).

The plaza too is home to numerous markets and events throughout the year. Make sure to catch Santa Fe Art Week [July 7-16], which is a great way to explore the city and its creative enclaves. After a long day honing your skills at workshops or attending openings and shows, tag along on a neighborhood gallery stroll in the evening to explore the city and unwind and socialize.

Writers and readers unite at the Santa Fe International Literary Festival [May 19–21] — attend lunches, lectures, and morning meditations from esteemed authors like John Irving and Gillian Flynn.

One of only a few locations to see this massive installation, buck tradition and swing by Meow Wolf. The famed art installations are fully immersive, colorful, and utilize multimedia to its full power. There’s an enthralling installation by contemporary Native American Artist Virgil Ortiz. Virgil Ortiz, of Cochiti Pueblo, is known as one of the most avant-garde artists of his time, fusing his Pueblo culture with sci-fi, fantasy, and apocalyptic themes that yield provocative and futuristic imagery. Ortiz considers it his mission to create global awareness that Pueblo communities are very much alive and vital. Ortiz’s installation titled, Sirens: Secret Passkeys & Portals features a cast of characters from his Revolt 1680/2180 saga—an ongoing project Ortiz has been working on for the past two decades. Revolt 1680/2180 presents a dystopian future 500 years after the Pueblo Revolt in which time-travelers return to the era to aid their ancestors. The installation features an eight-foot resin head embedded with neon, a video installation filmed at the Bisti Badlands in northwestern New Mexico, and an activated light wall.

— Aaron H. Bible is an award-winning writer, photographer, and multimedia producer with three decades of experience working as a journalist and creative director. Follow him at @definitelywild.

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With its workshop nestled amidst the tiny 5000 person village of Oberammergau in Germany’s dreamy Bavarian Alps, Racing Atelier’s roots in nature lay right next to its inspirations. Growing up and throughout much of his life, Leander has turned to outdoor activity for motivation in the workshop. While nowadays, he’s splitting his time between work and taking care of his newborn son, as an avid skier, impassioned hiker, and former professional mountain biker, Leander still makes time to vanish to the outdoors for a little inspiration.

As I quickly recognized through my Skype conversation with Leander, Racing Atelier is not in it to simply sell large quantities for a quick profit. Rather, they are in it to do it right and recognize that their labor is a valuable tool. In today’s interconnected world, ironically more and more “people have lost connections to the way things are made,” explains Leander. This vital relationship between the product, maker, and the client is part of the reason why Racing Atelier only makes packs to order. Leander elaborates, “I love the made-to-order scheme. This way, the energy is always positive and I become heavily invested in making the right pack for my client. It’s almost artistic.”

Indeed, as unique as their hand-crafted backpacks, Racing Atelier is a one-of-a-kind operation with a small but impassioned team of craftsmen who do what they love and love what they do. Such symbiosis is a rarity to come across these days and we really could not be more privileged and excited to share Leander’s perspective on Nature-Culture-Future with you to bring in the New Year!

NATURE
Tell us a bit about yourself, your company, and how one (or more) of your products is either inspired by or brings people closer to nature. How is nature woven into your product strategy?

Growing up on the countryside with my dad being an artist & my mom a master in ceramics I feel it was meant to be that I now find myself working creatively closely connected to nature. I am a trained designer & Racing Atelier essentially is a design studio. The design service ranges from bespoke furniture, interior to product design & development. With Rucksack#1 & other products of carry, we want to provide a very small range of goods that are just the way we want them to be. We want to share our experience & expertise with others. Everything is developed, designed & handmade to order in our own workshop.

I say “we”, because the team of Racing Atelier is not only myself but my brother Leonhard who is helping on the very technical solutions, for example of our custom aluminum hardware & our close friend and master in saddlery Jakob Pauli. Jakob really brings the leatherwork of our products to the highest level & is a great partner in the process of development.

Nature is woven into our work because we want the materials we use to be “very close to nature” for a very tactile & real feel & look – therefore we use vegetable tanned natural leather for example. Obviously, Dyneema is not “close to nature” but it is important to us to bring our design to a contemporary aesthetic and function. Additionally, it ages in beauty almost like a natural product. Similarly, when making bespoke furniture, I try to bring the natural characteristics & aesthetics of the wood to shine, but with a clean contemporary design.

NATURE (continued)

In that respect, I hope my work brings people closer to nature. As to the materials I mostly work with nature is woven in almost every project I work on for/with a client. Its beauty and/or functionality helps to connect for long-lasting experiences & content. In my opinion, one way to try & make a “better world” is to improve the connection to nature by bringing its beauty to people’s daily lives & make them realize how important it is – not only as a weekend destination for leisure before going back to the city with a big footprint left behind. In that sense nature is a strong, maybe the strongest tool in my workshop

CULTURE
Where do you, and/or members of your team, go for inspiration either online or in-person? What out there in current culture is creating the best or most interesting vibes to motivate you?

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Adidas outdoors – ITAVIC 3-STRIPE 2.0 JACKET 

Just as we at Vanish take our outerwear, Adidas outdoor takes high-performance outdoor technologies very seriously. The unique thing about them is that they can incorporate a sense of fashion with minimal effort, and the men’s Itavic 3-Stripe 2.0 Jacket fits the description. It is designed for urban living and incorporates synthetic insulation with a flawless street-ready style.

Technology

The jacket features 60% polyester and 40% recycled polyester. It also has an adjustable hood, a woven shell that has soft synthetic, fleece-lined pockets, PFC-free water-repellent finish, lightweight synthetic insulation, a headphone channel, an inner chest pocket, and a soft lining.

Advantages of Itavic 3-Stripe 2.0 Jacket

The Itavic 3-Stripe 2.0 Jacket is waterproof keeping you dry when it is raining. The PFC-free water-repellent finish sheds light rain and snow. Keep your hands cozy and warm by placing them inside the fleece-lined pockets.

Adidas outdoor has also made an effort to protect the environment by making the jacket with recycled polyester. Buying the jacket means you are helping save resources and decrease emissions.

The headphone channel ensures that you are well connected even under challenging weather conditions. Place your device inside the front zip pockets where it will be safe from water and dirt.

The adjustable hood shields you from strong winds. The woven shell is an added advantage as it keeps you warm and comfortable under cold conditions. It is easy to carry because of its lightweight.

With the Itavic 3-Stripe 2.0 Jacket, you don’t have to worry about looking awkward among your peers. It delivers performance and at the same giving you a strong sense of street-ready fashion.

The Jacket MSRP’s at $150 and is a must-have for any upcoming cold weather action! Visit Adidas outdoor today and check this product and many more they’ve got cooking up for the season ahead!

The post Adidas Outdoors ITAVIC 3-STRIPE 2.0 JACKET: High-Performance Outdoor Tech with Street Ready Styles appeared first on VANISH TODAY.

Topo Designs’ Co-Founder, Jedd Rose, explains, “It’s no secret that we are fairly obsessed with Japanese culture and design here at Topo. So when we discovered the Japanese brands Nanga and Natal, we were instantly hooked. We were amazed by their ability to combine Japanese craftsmanship, outdoor technology and trend-relevant design into an elegant package. Over the past year we’ve been lucky enough to get to know their talented team and work on this amazing project together. For us, it’s been a great way to infuse our favorite aspects of both Japanese and American cultures, design and manufacturing.”

The Topo Designs x Nanga x Natal Design Down T-Shirt features a vibrant take on Nanga’s signature Down T-Shirt. This Fall-ready tee has a nylon micro ripstop outer layer with a camouflage printed interior layer. It’s built with Ultra-Dry Down™ fill and can be stuffed into the hand pocket for compressed carrying. Two front chest pockets and two side hand pockets provide a spot to stash your phone, accessories, keys and more. This limited run Down T-Shirt is made in Japan and retails for $229. 

The collab’s Topo Designs x Nanga x Natal Design Rover Shoulder Pack incorporates Natal 1000D outer camouflage nylon with a 400D blaze orange interior pack cloth. Built with YKK zippers, coyote brown webbing, a branded leather patch, and internal laptop sleeve (fits up to 15”). The Rover Shoulder Pack is made in the USA and retails for $189.  

Natal Designs’, Shinsuke Gotoh, states, “The products made by Topo Designs and the products we make have a great affinity, and since we both have factory backgrounds in each country, we hit it off and decided to make collaborative products by taking advantage of each other’s strengths. We are proud that we have created products that people all over the world, including the United States and Japan, would love.”

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