How ‘gorpcore’ upstarts took on Nike and Adidas

As he prepared to board a helicopter outside the White House in Washington last month, Joe Biden became an accidental fashion icon. The 81-year-old was pictured wearing a $150 pair of “maximum stability” trainers, sparking speculation that his campaign advisers were seeking to avoid the unwanted attention created by his fall last summer. Alongside his usual navy suit, shirt and tie, the President wore black trainers by Hoka, the California outdoors brand popular with celebrities including Gwyneth Paltrow, Gisele Bündchen and Reese Witherspoon. Hoka is just one of a number of so-called gorpcore brands disrupting traditional sportswear trends and causing a headache for behemoths such as Nike and Adidas which have long commanded the market. Inspired by the phrase “good ol’ raisins and peanuts”, the trail mix eaten by American hikers, gorpcore is now used to refer more generally to hiking, camping or outdoor clothing that is worn for fashion rather than utility. These rival upstarts are often the brainchild of self-proclaimed eco-warriors such as “existential dirtbag” Yvon Chouinard who launched Patagonia, or sports enthusiasts such as former Swiss Ironman champion Olivier Bernhard who set up On Running after his sponsors were unable to offer him the right “running sensations”....

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