Typically on Friday’s we release a fresh edition of our Wild Ingenuity™ series where we ask amazing industry pros about their thoughts on Nature/Culture/Future. This week, we have a special twist. We sat down with the folks behind one of our favorite Instagram accounts: Hiking Patrol. Hiking Patrol is a curated, online destination focusing on a well-balanced combination of lifestyle and outdoor. It was started it to showcase a passion for lifestyle and outdoor.
We’ve asked Hiking Patrol to identify 3 trends actively playing out in the outdoors/active lifestyle/fashion space right now. Let’s get to it:
Fishing brands are becoming lifestyle brands.I see that many brands are inspired by fishing brands. In Japan, Hong Kong and South Korea, they have been doing it for several seasons already. You can see that many are inspired by South2 West8 and there are also older brands like Abu Garcia or Daiwa that are now doing collaborations or having a sub-label where they can fetch new customers.
I see that many outdoors brands within apparel and footwear are creating their own sub-labels like Merrell and Salomon, just to name a few. I’m particularly fond of the new Advanced Collection by Salomon. I believe this is a trend that is certain to spread.
Outdoor/hiking shoes will still be strong next season.
You will see that many of the biggest sports brands will not survive this industry if they are only releasing products because of the “hiking/outdoor trend”. I think these last two seasons are a test phase for them in the market to see if they can find new audiences. I think it’s easier for outdoor brands to take new customers from the lifestyle industry because they have always been making outdoor products for decades. The credibility is already there!
Follow Hiking Patrol on Instagram for more trends and inspo.
