BEAMS and Arc'Teryx Bring Bold Blues to Their "Boro" Collection
Inspired by the tones, patterns and panels of traditional Japanese boro textile working.
BEAMS and Arc’Teryx have revealed their latest collaborative effort — the “Boro” collection, which brings bold blue patchwork style to jackets, hoodies and accessories. Both the color scheme and the colorblocking have a specific inspiration, namely the traditional Japanese art of boro. Boro. short for “boroboro,” a Japanese term that’s used to refer to something tattered that’s been repaired, is an ancient handcrafting technique that was born in the country’s Tohoku region and serves as inspiration for everything from brands like KAPITAL and FDMTL to beautiful bespoke sneakers, but here it’s been given a high-tech makeover at the hands of BEAMS and Arc’Teryx.
The “Boro” collection consists of Arc’Teryx’s GORE-TEX-equipped Beta shell jacket, an Atom LT hoodie, a Mantis 26L backpack and a Mantis 2 waist pack. Both pieces of outerwear feature the same patchwork style used on 2022’s BEAMS x Arc’Teryx “DIMENSIONS” capsule, but stay true to their boro inspiration with a melange of bright and murky blue tones, contrasted with rich black hits and special co-branded detailing like sleeve hits and a super-sized version of Arc’Teryx’s Archaeopteryx logo on the sleeve. On the other end, the bags offer a more simple mixture of bright blue and black. From a visual standpoint, the collection is spotlighted in a lookbook starring Arc’Teryx climber Ashima Shiraishi.
The Japanese retailer and Canadian outerwear maker have been collaborating since 2001 when their first co-created effort was released as part of the BEAMS Bespoke collection — itself created to celebrate BEAMS’ 25th anniversary — but this is only the second time that their collaborative efforts will see a global release. The “Boro” collection is available via an online lottery on the BEAMS webstore that runs until April 12, then will start again from April 14 to April 16. It’ll then drop at BEAMS Harajuku on April 22. Prices range from ¥7,700 JPY (approximately $58 USD) to ¥60,500 (approximately $453 USD), inclusive of tax.
For more on Arc’Teryx, check out an in-depth feature on the brand from Hypebeast Magazine #29.
