Victorinox 2013 Fall/Winter "Futureproof" Collection

With newly-appointed Artistic Director Christopher Raeburn at the helm, Victorinox‘s Fall/Winter 2013 collection explores the theme of “futureproof,” an idea that was inspired by a trip to a New York’s American Museum of Natural History. Drawing from the museum’s “Beyond Planet Earth: The Future of Space Exploration” exhibition and its vision of futuristic space travel, the Victorinox design team created a hybrid of old and new that finds its main references in military design. This time however, those classic inspirations find their match in some of the label’s most advanced technologies – the entire range rooted in the core values of Protect, Contour, Articulate and Innovate.

What this roughly translates to is a themed collection highlighted by performance materials like silverback three-layer fabrics, bonded wool with a laminated backing, and airy nylon twill. Elsewhere, design elements like ergonomic seaming and engineered textures taken from astronaut suits are brought to the forefront, the entire collection colored in greys and blacks with the occasional flare of shuttle blue, orange or Victorinox’s signature Ibach red. Standouts include the Protect line’s Mission Jacket — with its heat-retaining materials and snap-out vest — two-layer softshell performance blazers and cashmere-blended tailored flannels, while armor-stitched knits and hybrid fleece pieces also push the boundaries of style and function. Considering Victorinox’s claim to fame as the originator of the Swiss Army knife, the brand’s upcoming Fall/Winter 2013 collection looks to be the closest thing we’ve seen to its clothing equivalent – a multifaceted range of functional, forward-thinking pieces.